HARTFORD, Conn. — Nine former nursing students at a for-profit school that abruptly closed its door earlier this year have filed a federal lawsuit against multiple state officials, claiming their credits were declared invalid or they were never given their transcripts.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday, is the latest development against Stone Academy, which closed its doors permanently in February to avoid an audit into its practices. It seeks to hold state officials accountable for what happened after the school's closure.
The Office of Higher Education had been auditing the school and was going to allow it to continue to operate provisionally. School officials closed the school instead.
When the school closed, an audit threw out thousands of credit hours, saying the courses were invalid.
In the lawsuit, the former students claim state officials did not have the authority to throw out the credits because the school was accredited at the time of the classes.
According to court documents, the former students are seeking an unspecified amount of money for the value of earned academic credits that were declared invalid. They are also seeking money for what they said was damaging to their professional reputations and the cloud placed on their licenses.
The lawsuit also calls for an investigation into why some Stone Academy students who passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) did not receive their vocational nursing license. The NCLEX is a nationwide exam adopted by the state of Connecticut that nursing students must pass to practice as a licensed practical nurse.
The former students, who were all set to graduate within the last two years, are suing officials at the Connecticut Office of Higher Education and the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Spokespersons for both departments declined to comment on the lawsuit.
After closing its doors in February, the for-profit business was also sued by the state, which alleges its owners siphoned millions of dollars from the nursing school.
In an expanded complaint filed in October, Attorney General William Tong claimed that owners Joseph Bierbaum and Creative Career Trust “earned vast sums from unfair and deceptive conduct.” Creative Career Trust was established by Mark Scheinberg.
Tong claims the school’s owners have not cooperated with state investigators by withholding texts and emails while mounting aggressive public relations campaigns designed to obfuscate and mislead the public, its students, state officials, and lawmakers.
Read more about Tong’s allegations here.
The attorney representing students at Stone Academy, David Slossberg said the people in power failed the students.
“People who were in position to trust failed more than 1,000 students who were formally enrolled in Stone Academy,” he said. “At all times, the students were relying on the fact that this was an authorized program. So to now say, after the fact, ‘Oh never mind, we’re declaring your credits invalid’, they don’t have the authority to do it.”
Earlier this month, a judge ruled that at least $5 million should be set aside ahead of the trial against the school. The move essentially freezes the assets of the school’s owners and plaintiffs can still ask for more damages in the trial.
The trial is set to begin in September 2024.
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