Computer school employees finally paid

Monday, Jan. 29, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

For the 27 employees of a computer school that closed its doors a week ago, yesterday was more than just Super Bowl Sunday -- it was payday.

Today, it's back to school for 212 students at Computer Learning Centers in Henderson. Students arrived for class last Monday to discover the school was shut down and the staff had been sent home.

But since then, a private school based in Ogden, Utah, rode to the rescue. Not only did Stevens-Henager College take over teaching the classes, but it also picked up the salaries of the employees, who hadn't been paid since December.

Carl Barney, president of Stevens-Henager, was to meet with the staff at the school Sunday and deliver paychecks. In the meeting, he planned to discuss his school's plans for the future.

"We're very excited to be moving into Las Vegas," Barney said in a telephone interview from his Lake Tahoe home.

The 109-year-old school started out teaching office skills, including typing, accounting and general business techniques. Now, it offers business accounting courses, business management, legal assistant and office administration and computer network administration.

The school also has programs for medical assisting, surgical technologists and hotel management and travel. It hasn't been sorted out what programs will be offered at the Henderson campus, which will bear the Stevens-Henager name beginning today.

But the school plans to offer bachelor of science degrees as well as associate degrees.

At other branch campuses in the Utah cities of Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, Logan and Bountiful; as well as in Denver, the school offers degrees and courses in information technology, accounting, business management, real estate, e-commerce, tax preparation, marketing and sales, finance, medical and pharmacy assisting, massage, medical lab technician skills and physical therapy.

Barney said he acquired the school without even visiting the campus. His visit Sunday and today will be his first stop at the school.

He did not disclose the financial details of the transaction with Computer Learning Centers Inc., Manassas, Va., but said there were few assets received -- the school's staff and its reputation.

Much of the financial aid students received from the federal government is going back to the U.S. Department of Education. The building and all the computer equipment inside is leased so Stevens-Henager received little in the deal.

"It has not been profitable because it's still considered a startup," Barney said of the school that opened in 1999.

Barney said he plans to pick up the pieces "exactly the way it should happen."

"A lot of the staff and a lot of the students have a tremendous amount riding on this school," Barney said. "They have their hopes and dreams poured into this. It's a lot more wrenching than if you just closed a store or something."

Barney praised the efforts of the staff of David Perlman, administrator of Nevada's Commission on Postsecondary Education, who got a phone message about the school's closure Monday and that day began securing student records.

Dave Evans, the local administrator for CLC since it opened, said the entire staff was being retained. The process of transferring the school from CLC to Stevens-Henager was expected to take about two weeks.

"It ended up working out better than we could have possibly imagined," Evans said after the sale of the school was announced.

Earlier this month, the publicly traded Computer Learning Centers reported that it was notified by the U.S. Department of Education that the school was not meeting financial responsibility standards and that its lenders would not provide additional funding.

Perlman said in addition to that problem, the school was accused in December of illegally paying commissions to recruiters. The company acknowledged the allegation in a December press release, saying that the Department of Education was requiring the return of $187 million in funds received by the school and its students since July 1, 1994, under Title IV federal student aid programs.

CLC tried to sell the chain of 25 schools, but apparently gave up when classrooms were shut down.