Henderson computer school may reopen by end of month

Kevin Ferguson

Friday, March 9, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

Students who were locked out of their Green Valley classrooms when Computer Learning Centers filed for bankruptcy in late January could be headed back to classes by the end of the month.

A bankruptcy court judge in Virginia on Wednesday approved the $3 million bid for the Henderson campus and another in Georgia by the Lincoln Technical Institute, a New Jersey corporation.

The sale is expected to take place today and the new administrators plan to begin preparing the campus immediately for classes to resume within two weeks, said Dave Carney, Lincoln's chairman and chief executive.

"We want to resume courses as soon as possible. We need to start reaching out to the former students," Carney said."We plan to perform a teach-out and hope to offer jobs to the employees of the Computer Learning Centers."

A staff of 27 was left seeking work when the Green Valley campus closed. Carney said he hopes more than 100 students return to complete their course work. He noted if students had already paid tuition to Computer Learning Centers, they would not be charged to complete the course under the new administration.

The Computer Learning Centers' bankruptcy was due to financial troubles the Virginia-based corporate parent was facing. The educational institution operated 24 other campuses across the country, which all closed in late January.

Since the CLC opened in Henderson in January 1999, some 350 to 400 students had gone through the program receiving certifications in Microsoft applications, data administration, network engineering and computer repair, said Dave Evans, CLC's local administrator who was recently hired by Lincoln Technical Institute.

Evans said he was impressed with Lincoln's commitment to the Henderson school.

"The company is staking on a big liability, accepting students to return without being charged for classes," Evans said. "That was part of why I agreed to come back, they are willing to protect the interests of the former students. Plus, Lincoln Technical Institute has a great reputation in the automotive and technology industries."

Lincoln Technical Institute's acquisitions of the Georgia and Henderson campuses today, and four New England schools expected to close next week, will move to 19 its number of vocational schools, Carney said.

The Green Valley Computer Learning Centers, located at 2290 Corporate Circle Dr. Suite 100, offered computer courses on a seven-to-10 month graduating schedule, depending on the type of certification. Programs were offered on a staggered schedule.

Carney said that will likely remain the same.

When the local Computer Learning Centers campus closed Jan. 22, it locked out 212 students. About 15 to 20 of those completed their training, when it reopened for the last week in January under the direction of Ogden, Utah-based Stevens-Henager College.

But when Computer Learning Centers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means the liquidation of assets, it blocked Stevens-Henager from continuing those courses.

Stevens-Henager hasn't said if it still plans to open a campus in the Las Vegas Valley.