[August 01, 2011] ATI students hunt for answers, as state moves to close schools Tweet Jul 31, 2011 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Students of ATI schools are trying to figure out what to do next, following the move by the Texas Workforce Commission last week to shut down the North Richland Hills-based company's vocational teaching sites around the state. ATI Enterprises, which operates 16 training schools in Texas, has the right to appeal the impending revocations of its operating certificates to the commission. It is entitled to a hearing before the commission or an officer appointed by it, and could appeal that decision in the state courts. "If they're going to shut down, I need to figure out how to get my money out and find somewhere else," Samantha Newton of North Richland Hills, whose son just enrolled to study heating and refrigeration, said Friday. The family took out $17,000 in loans for the 10-month program, she said. ATI representatives said nothing after the commission's announcement late Wednesday. "We need to communicate with our regulator before we speak to the press," Brandon Dowdy, spokesman for the company, said Thursday. Dowdy promised a statement Friday but failed to respond to telephone calls and e-mails. On Wednesday, the commission sent ATI a letter of intent to revoke the company's certificates of approval to operate in Texas, citing a third-party review that showed most of ATI's programs in Texas failed to meet the minimum requirement of placing 60 percent of graduates in jobs related to their training in fiscal 2010. The commission barred ATI from enrolling new students effective immediately, ordered up information on currently enrolled students, and required the company to initiate plans to complete students' current courses of study or provide "viable" alternatives outside the ATI for-profit system. The commission said it will determine the revocation dates for each school's certificate based on "the last date of completion for each vocational course currently underway." ATI can appeal the revocations but not the suspension of new enrollments, the commission said. Students who withdraw before 75 percent completion of their courses are entitled to refunds in line with the schools' published policies and state law, the commission said. Students who have enrolled, but not yet started their study, are entitled to full refunds, the commission said. On June 28, Fogle & Associates, a Wexford, Pa.-based certified public accounting firm, found that the ATI schools had fallen short in their requirement of confirming employment outcomes for all graduates. The firm was hired by ATI after the commission ordered an independent review. "The independent verification reflects a contact rate of only 54 percent for all schools, with contacts for some programs being as low as 11 percent," the firm said in the review, released by the workforce commission. In reviewing job placement rates reported by ATI, Fogle said: 61 programs -- 97 percent -- overreported employment rates by 2 or more percentage points; 60 programs -- 95 percent -- overreported by 5 or more points; 57 programs -- 90 percent -- "significantly overreported" employment rates; 40 programs -- 63 percent -- "dropped from having met the 60 percent employment rate" to a lower rate. Students and parents said they were having trouble getting answers from ATI employees after the commission's announcement this week. "I think they're full of crap," Newton said. ATI's programs at its various schools include air conditioning, heating and refrigeration; automotive and motorcycle service; welding; electronic systems; dental and medical assisting; respiratory therapy; pharmacy technician; clinical lab technician; computer accounting and computer office specialist; medical technician; nurse assistant; intensive English language; personal fitness trainer; paralegal; vocational nursing; and yoga teaching. The company's chief executive, Carli Strength, has said ATI was cooperating with the state and was "deeply troubled" by the workforce commission's previous review that found incorrect reporting and possible "intentional misreporting" of data at ATI schools. Strength also had stressed that ATI was making efforts to be transparent, including informing the state in April 2010 -- before a critical federal report was released -- that its internal numbers might not be 100 percent accurate. "We are not a perfect company, but we certainly strive to do well by our students," he told the Star-Telegram in April. The workforce commission effectively put the ATI schools on probation March 31, prompting the hiring of the third-party CPA to verify employment data and submit the findings to the commission. Scott Nishimura, 817-390-7808 To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]