Mark Scheinberg, a past owner of for-profit Stone Academy, the shuttered Connecticut nursing school — and one of the defendants in a current lawsuit against it — responded to a complaint arguing that despite findings of noncompliance, the state had "no reasonable basis to demand the closure of Stone Academy."
In court documents, Mr. Scheinberg's legal team points blame at the State of Connecticut and its Office of Higher Education for causing the interruption to student education, rather than the fault of himself and co-defendant Joseph Bierbaum, another owner and administrator of the school.
The documents claim that the agencies "failed to follow regulations relating to the order closure of practical nursing schools such as Stone Academy" by demanding "that, notwithstanding and in contravention of the regulatory procedures in place to protect students in the event of school closures, Stone Academy close by Feb. 24, 2023, which inhibited the ability of Stone Academy students to continue their practical nursing education."
Following the school's closure in February, the state launched an investigation and in July published a report, which found that of the 102,471 clinical hours reported on Stone Academy student transcripts 77,858 were invalid. In several cases students had also been given clinical credits for writing assignments, or even for visiting a museum instead of actually attending an approved clinical rotation, according to the report.
The audit also revealed that 43 of the institution's instructors were unqualified to teach nursing students.
Notably though, in his Nov. 9 response asserting the state did not have reason to shut down the program, Mr. Scheinberg does admit that Creative Career Trust, a company doing business as Stone Academy, owns 75% of Stone Academy, and benefits his children.
This comes after, in a separate lawsuit from the state, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong widened the investigation into Stone Academy Oct. 23 after looking into its financial past.
Specifically, Mr. Tong cites that while the program was raking in profits, students' NCLEX scores were plummeting.
"While Stone's nursing exam pass rates faltered, Stone's owners paid themselves nearly $5 million in distributions for 2020 and 2021 alone," the release reads. "Stone's income from student fees increased from $1.8 million in 2018 to over $3 million in 2021. Yet, in many instances, students did not receive the books they paid for, struggling to learn from photocopied handouts instead."
During the same time its owners paid themselves $5 million, according to the amended complaint.
The Attorney General's Office is seeking to freeze Stone Academy's assets before the trial fully begins. Jury selection for the case brought by former students is slated to begin next fall.