Cash payments for affected students are included, but court must still approve deal
The state has reached a $5 million preliminary settlement with the defunct Stone Academy and its owners over unfair and deceptive conduct, Attorney General William Tong announced Friday.
The deal, which includes compensation to impacted students through a private class action process, still has to be approved by the courts. Tong filed papers in Hartford Superior Court Friday.
The for-profit nursing school had promised an education that would position students to become licensed practical nurses in less than two years, with hands-on training from industry leaders. Instead, it closed abruptly in February 2023, “leaving student education plans in limbo and little to show for their investments in time and money,” Tong said in a news release.
The academy did not deliver as promised, lacked materials and experienced teachers and even failed to heat its classrooms, Tong said. Two East Hartford buildings that housed the school were eventually sold in January 2024.
An investigation by the state revealed that Stone Academy took in millions of dollars in revenues and continued to enroll new students into its programs, Tong said.
“Stone Academy unconscionably deprived its students of the education and opportunities they were promised,” Tong said in the release. “Those wasted hours and deferred dreams are impossible to fully recover.”
The proposed settlement would resolve all claims filed by the state arising from Stone Academy’s misconduct, including those against Career Training Specialists, Paier College of Art and Joseph Bierbaum, and all claims by the Ridenhour private class action against Stone Academy, Bierbaum and Creative Career Trust and against the state, the attorney general said.
“We will continue to work alongside Stone students to seek additional relief – including loan forgiveness and potential state aid – to provide every remedy possible,” Tong said.
The deal includes a plan for students who need to complete their education via remedial programs to do so, and the state plans to set aside $150,000 from the settlement to help former Stone students prepare for exit exams. The rest of the $5 million would be split between the students through the class action process, officials said.
The state Department of Public Health will also end its licensure investigations based solely on a nurse’s attendance at Stone Academy, under the agreement, and Tong has petitioned the US Department of Education to discharge student loan debt related to Stone Academy.
“This is encouraging news. Stone Academy students were harmed by unfair and deceptive conduct, and the Attorney General’s ongoing efforts to pursue justice in this unfortunate situation are appreciated,” said state Sen. Henri Martin, R-Bristol, ranking senator on the legislature’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee. “We have a nursing shortage, and it is essential that we continue to work across multiple branches of government to help these students get their careers back on track and make them whole.”
Under the agreement, Bierbaum – the former Stone Academy owner and former Paier College president – is prohibited from working in higher education for five years.
“Should Stone Academy’s former owners and officers seek to open, own, or operate any other for-profit schools in Connecticut, they must notify the Office of the Attorney General,” Tong said.