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February 23, 2023

AG Tong announces investigation into Stone Academy

MARK PAZNIOKAS / CTMIRROR.ORG Attorney General William Tong, right, and his chief counsel, Matthew Fitzsimmons.
By Robert Storace

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced Thursday afternoon that his office will investigate possible violations of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices Act by for-profit career training school Stone Academy in the wake of the school’s sudden announcement that it would be closing its three in-state campuses.

The academy, which offered nursing programs at its West Haven, Waterbury and East Hartford campuses, closed its doors suddenly Feb. 15. The school will remain open for administrative purposes until Feb. 24.

The closure impacted about 845 students, according to the Office of Higher Education (OHE).

On Thursday, Tong said his office sent a civil investigative demand letter to the academy seeking detailed information and records on, among other things: the education provided to and tuition collected from each student; the schools’ marketing practices; revenue and accreditation materials; as well as all of the student complaints received by the school. 

Stone is required to respond by March 10, Tong said.

“Students paid thousands of dollars in tuition and worked extremely hard – some over many months and years – to fulfill their dreams of becoming nurses,” Tong said in a statement. “Stone failed them. Stone’s pass rate was unacceptably low. Some of their faculty were not legally qualified to teach. Students wasted hours in invalid clinical training. The school was simply not preparing its students to become successful nurses. We’re going to find out exactly what Stone promised these students and how things went so wrong. If we find any violations of the law, we won’t hesitate to hold Stone’s leaders accountable.”

Stone Academy’s closure came after OHE said it found eight compliance violations against the school. OHE said it determined that about 20% of Stone Academy’s instructors weren’t qualified to teach in the practical nursing program. It also discovered the school was offering so-called “campus clinicals” to students, even though Department of Public Health regulations don’t allow for clinical experiences on campus.

In a statement, Timothy Larson, OHE executive director, said: “The Office of Higher Education has been and will continue to work closely with the Attorney General’s office to process the closure of Stone Academy…. Our office is currently processing all active Stone Academy student files so that we can turn them over to an independent auditor for verification.”

Stone Academy representatives didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 
 

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