A state education board held an emergency meeting Sept. 27 to place the Fleur de Lis Institute in Tucson on probation.
The landscaping school may continue to offer classes to the 20 to 30 students who have paid for them, but it can't accept new student-tuition money, said Keith Blanchard, deputy director of the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education.
The board took away the school's state licenses to operate vocational and degree programs in July, saying it didn't have the financial information it needed to properly oversee the school. It has been allowed to stay open during appeals.
School co-owner Milton Corey told the board that some requests for documentation weren't received or answered because he switched Web hosts. He said he could provide any paperwork the board needed.
"Your best intentions are not resolving these problems," said board member Jim Dugan. "They're fairly simple and straightforward things."
The board has the option to deny a license to Fleur de Lis at a meeting Oct. 25, an action that would effectively close the school. Or the board could give the school requirements to meet to stay open.
The board, which is charged with consumer protection, heard four complaints against Fleur de Lis in a committee meeting Thursday. Three students said they are owed refunds for classes they paid for upfront and then chose not to attend.
"I want my refund for the money I've spent," said former student Roxanne Dobosz, who said she is owed $5,000. "I didn't get the education I was promised. There are many problems with the school."
The board ordered the school to refund the students' money today.
Former student Dale Figger doubts he'll get his money back today. He's been trying since March, he said.
Figger said he called the school's bank and was told there was nowhere near the funds in the account to cover a check for $23,000.
"It's been one promise after another" from Corey, he said.
Corey responded to that allegation by saying it wasn't clear at the time whether Figger was leaving the school for good.
After the complaints were heard, the board held a 30-minute emergency meeting to discuss the status of Fleur de Lis, Blanchard said. The probationary status is to help the state board protect students, he said.
Co-owner Marjorie Schaeffer said the school's financial problems started when funding was cut off during an investigation by major student-loan provider Sallie Mae involving a student complaint. The complaint turned out to be false, Schaeffer said. Sallie Mae stopped doing business with Fleur de Lis in June 2006.
"We're a small school, and this hurt us very badly," she said at the meeting.
The school is in trouble with another state agency, too.
According to a July notice from the Arizona Corporation Commission, the school is delinquent on an annual report that was due in April and the school corporation could be administratively dissolved.
That means the state could take away the company's corporate status, but the school could pay penalties and reapply, said Brian McNeil, the commission's executive director.