Local Students Frustrated Over College Closings
Kylee Scott of Ford City displays some of the art she has sketched while an Oakbridge Academy of Arts student in Lower Burrell. Though she will always have the love of drawing, Oakbridge closed its doors along with the Newport Business Institute last week – forcing Scott to consider other schools.
by Jonathan Weaver
The sudden closings of Oakbridge Academy of Arts and the Newport Business Institute campuses in Lower Burrell have impacted more than 100 students regionally, including some from the Kittanning area.
Kylee Scott of Ford City just started studying visual arts at Oakbridge Academy in September, three months after graduating from the advertising digital technology program at Lenape Tech in Manor Township.
However, the average school day December 16 took a sudden turn after lunch, when Scott said students were gathered together and told the school was closing and that they only had 30 minutes to leave the premises – never to return.
Students and faculty were in tears, and according to a letter given to students, so was Co-Owner Michelle Mullen and Executive Director Mary Jane Gatty.
“My heart breaks having to write this letter at this time of year. I wish each and every one of you success with your future career training,” the letter said.
The letter said administrators did ‘everything possible with the (U.S. Department of Education to avoid this terrible situation, but were not successful.’
Scott and her mother, Kristie, question that commitment because of the lack of response since.
“There are just so many questions and there are no answers,” Kristie said.
The misinformation and rumors that the school closed due to a divorce between owners Michelle Mullen and John Bryant Mullen, Sr. caused students to rally together at Pittsburgh Mills Mall and share information.
“Everybody’s getting different information so we were all sharing our information to try and find out what’s really going on here,” Kylee said.
Rachelle Minteer of Kittanning was not able to attend the rally last week, but was glued to social media to get updates from her fellow students. She also agreed that the sudden evacuation was disturbing and questionable.
“They should’ve given the students a chance – even legally, they should’ve given the students a 30 day notice. They didn’t even give us a half-hour,” Minteer said.
“A person expects to at least be treated like a human being, and we weren’t given that respect.
“They gave up on us.”
Minteer, a photography student, compared her state of feeling late last week to ‘someone telling you somebody died’ and was angry while going through the different phases of grief since there was ‘no real explanation.’
“It wasn’t the only decision that could’ve been made - they could have sold this school. They didn’t have to close,” Minteer said. “All this time that they’ve been having problems along the way, they could have tried to sell the school.”
When Minteer returned for the fall term, she could sense something was wrong. Students were uninterested, rules and time management weren’t enforced – and there was a lack of supplies.
Minteer said students had to buy their own color ink or printer paper in able to compare their draft work, even though they were paying hundreds of dollars for the class instruction. Supplies barely got their in time for a fall art show.
“I knew that things were bad – I just didn’t see this coming,” Minteer said.
Only a semester away from her externship, Minteer also looked back on how her studies impacted her family life as a non-traditional student.
“I lost more than just finishing my degree – I lost watching my little boy finish Head Start, watching him go through the first grade. One of my sons fell sick and is autistic and I wasn’t home to help him,” Minteer said.
“When you have a family, they’re in it with you.”
She could only imagine how some of her fellow students that were only weeks away from graduating feel.
“I guess it is what it is,” Minteer said.
The students were not only concerned about their fellow students’ futures, but the instructors. Class sizes allowed them to get personalized attention, something Scott originally cited as her reason for choosing Oakbridge, and something Minteer said set them apart from a larger university.
“You have to love what you do to be there,” Minteer said. “I could see that even the very last day when they were hurt and in shock, putting themselves out there to help those that were totally hurt.”
Both students are also adamantly concerned about the financial impact.
Scott had received a scholarship earlier this semester that would pay for half of the year – worth roughly about $15,000 – and received financial grant assistance through the state.
Minteer also had begun her schooling with a scholarship through the Armstrong County Community Foundation and was making student loan payments to assist with her classes.
Kristie immediately called the government and reportedly found out her daughter’s financial assistance was canceled by Oakbridge at the end of October without any noice– more than six weeks ago.
Minteer heard that Oakbridge never even reapplied for financial assistance.
The letter given to students said that it will help students in any way possible.
While both were unsure if their credits would transfer or if they could finish their classes at other institutions, news from the Pennsylvania Association of Private School Administrators broke Friday that Oakbridge and Newport students would receive equal treatment and instruction at the Career Training Academy in New Kensington, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Cambria-Rowe College in Indiana and McCann School of Business in Sunbury.
The New Kensington, Indiana and Pittsburgh schools will reportedly offer the continued instruction for free.
Last week, Scott said most students didn’t even want to consider attending a different school. She had an appointment Friday to meet with Indiana University of Pennsylvania officials about their design program.
“None of us want to go to different schools because we were extremely happy there – everyone there was like family. There were about 30 of us together all day long, and (school administrators) just ripped us apart,” Scott said.
More than 200 signatures have been logged through a student-made online petition to save the schools. Students were also considering picketing at a site close to the schools and reportedly there was a protest at an unknown site.
Kylee’s mom was one of those signees, as were other regional supporters – including other parents from the Kittanning/Ford City area.
Rachelle Minteer of Kittanning was finishing her second-to-last semester at Oakbridge before her externship. She praised the teachers who have helped her along the way and the students she calls her ‘family’ but is unsure of where to turn to next.
Local News, Regional News | jweaver December 23, 2013
By Iteach, December 23, 2013 @ 9:48 AM
I know some of these students and they are really let down by this - I’m sad for them.
It is, however, a picture of what can (and will) happen when educational institutions are privately held. When profits get thin the doors close. Expect to see more of this from k-12 programs too as long as public servants are the enemy. I am a fiscal conservative and know we can educate students with less resources but I also know without a doubt that privatizing education will neglect the most vulnerable.