Rhetoric grows more combative between AG and Stone Academy. Bill to punish graduates with nursing licenses advances in legislature.

Attorney General William Tong issued a blistering statement Wednesday, accusing Stone Academy of “misdirection” in the public debate over the for-profit school’s sudden closing by the Office of Higher Education (OHE) in February. Tong claims to have “thoroughly refuted” Stone Academy’s claims to have offered to provide teach outs for more than the more than 800 students who were locked out of classes.

Stone Academy lawyer Perry Rowthorn issued a direct response to Tong on Thursday. Rowthorn wrote,

“We normally do not engage in settlement negotiations in public but are compelled to correct some of the misstatements in the Attorney General’s letter.   While we can agree to disagree on what put Stone in the position of having to close, nobody can honestly dispute that OHE forced Stone to close with just two weeks’ notice and without a teach out plan in place – the primary cause of distress and disruption to students. 

OHE may not have liked Stone’s proposals for teach outs then, and the Attorney General may not like our latest proposal now, but the stark fact is that neither OHE nor anyone else on behalf of the State has come forward with their own teach out plan months into the crisis, an unprecedented abandonment of vulnerable students.  Instead, OHE remains focused on an illegal audit to disenfranchise students of their legitimately earned credits. 

DPH and OHE have not and cannot establish that Stone committed any regulatory violations, and the Attorney General’s extensive investigation has not identified any consumer protection violations – as one would normally expect before publicly demanding that a company put all of its money on the table.   That said, Stone has offered and remains ready and willing to have a real and productive conversation with the Attorney General about how best to assist its students and graduates, and to do so without further time wasted on posturing and unreasonable demands.”  

A teach out is an emergency program established to allow students to complete the classes they were taking when their school closed. OHE’s failure to work with Stone Academy to provide a teach out is unprecedented.

The state Senate adopted an amendment Wednesday that proponents appeared to believe would assist recent Stone graduates. It does not. According to the Department of Public Health (DPH), Stone Academy students who graduated after November 1, 2021, and passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) are being asked to take a refresher course and agree to limit the use of their license.

A DPH publication on the Stone graduates states, “[Y]ou cannot perform the work of an LPN until you successfully complete the refresher course.” The course includes eight hours of classroom work and 40 hours of clinical experience. The offer of a refresher course comes with a threat to seize the license of students who have passed the national licensing test but do not take the course:

“…Given the concern that the Stone Academy program may have failed to provide you with the learning and training experiences required to become licensed as a practical nurse, DPH may open an investigation into your preparation and may take disciplinary action against your license if the investigation reveals that you did not receive the preparation required by state law and regulation. Such disciplinary action could result in the loss of your license and would be reported to the National Practitioner Databank.“

The national licensure exam is the standard that schools teach to. Stone Academy students who have passed the exam are now being targeted and threatened by the state’s regulator–DPH. The proposal adopted by the Senate is not what was described when members spoke about it in a brief discussion. The $800 payments for the refresher course is part of the ransoming of the licenses of the mostly women of color who graduated from Stone Academy after November 1, 2021, and passed the national licensing exam.

On Friday morning, the Appropriations Committee will consider the proposal and ought to ask about the terms of the agreement licensees are required to sign in order to receive the money to take the course. DPH has so far had 43 licensees sign up for the course since April.

Published June 2, 2023.