HARTFORD, Conn. — As the legislative session winds to an end in less than a week, State Senators on both sides of the aisle announced a plan to aid as many as 900 nursing students whose education was abruptly cut short in February when the institution abruptly closed.
It started as a placeholder bill several months ago around the same time Attorney General William Tong announced the State of Connecticut would investigate what led to the closure.
Thursday, lawmakers added language to that bill that would take $600,000 from the $2.4 million Student Protection Fund, which occupational schools like Stone pay into.
State Senator Derek Slap D, West Hartford said, “This isn’t going to solve all the problems, but we don’t want for them to have to wait for years until the lawsuits are resolved for them to be able to get their careers on track.”
Slap said he’s confident the bill will move successfully through the Senate and House in the coming days.
Minority Leader Kevin Kelly R, Stratford said, “One of the things here that both sides saw that as the state makes these payments to the students there’s then going to be an opportunity for the state to then go after the bad actor.”
“We’ve had it. The state’s had it,” Tong said Thursday after his office sent a letter to Stone Academy officials rejecting its plan, which called on a partner institution to aide students. He said the plan didn’t identify who that partner would be.
Tong added, “What they need to do is step up and make it right. Put all their money on the table. Pay for these students to pay for their education or refund money to people who can’t continue their education.”
The plan drafted by Senators also calls on the state to seek to recover the $600,000 from Stone Academy.
The Appropriations Committee is slated to take up the bill Friday morning. It would then move to the Senate and House for votes before heading to the Governor’s desk.
Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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