State issues cease and desist order to McAllen career school
AUSTIN — A Rio Grande City nursing school is one of five the the state's workforce commission asked to stop operating.
The Texas Workforce Commission issued IF Tech of Rio Grande City a cease and desist order Thursday after it received complaints from the Texas Board of Nursing about the school, said commission spokeswoman Ann Hatchitt.
In an e-mail message, Hatchitt wrote the commission had asked the school to respond according to directions given in its notice letter. But instead the school "responded with a one liner that they tutor foreign nurses that cannot pass their boards."
But according to the school's Web site, www.iftechmed1.com, the school provides an "intensive 9 month certification program that offers classroom instruction and related clinical practice in the basic areas" of nursing. It also lists an outline of the courses the school offers.
The Monitor tried to contact the school Friday afternoon using a telephone number the commission provided, but no one answered.
If the school continues to operate the commission would seek an injunction from the Office of the Attorney General, according to Hatchitt.
The commission also issued cease and desist orders against four schools in the Dallas area that don’t have valid licenses or exemptions under the Texas Education Code, according to a news release the commission sent.
The commission identified IF Tech in McAllen as one of the schools reprimanded, but commission spokeswoman Ann Hatchitt said the commission still knows little about the school.
The commission is warning students to be aware that schools need certificates of approval from the Texas Board of Nursing to be licensed as nursing training providers. The nursing training at the schools issued the cease and desist orders has not been approved.
The four other unlicensed career schools are Esther Medical Tutorial & Nursing Review Center, Richardson; Vocational Training Education Center, Irving; Career Advanced Medical Clinic and Training, Dallas; and Merit Excellence Institute, Carrollton.
"Students are paying large amounts of money for training which will not allow them to be eligible to take the NCLEX licensing examination in Texas," said Mary Beth Thomas, director of nursing practice and education at the Texas Board of Nursing.
A career school traditionally trains students for a field in a business, trade, or a technical or industrial occupation, or for vocational or personal improvement. Cease and desist orders are issued to a business if the workforce commission has reason to believe the school is not in compliance with the Texas Education Code.
Commission staff statewide monitors career school certification compliance, and can impose sanctions and/or an administrative penalty of up to $1,000 per day per violation for noncompliance.
The state attorney general’s office enforces cease and desist orders and can seek civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day per violation. Pursuing such cases is the function of workforce commission’s Regulatory Integrity Division, which is responsible for enforcing all regulatory statutes within the jurisdiction of the agency, encompassing career schools, child labor, unemployment insurance and workforce board sanctions.
Prospective career school students can access a list of schools in compliance on the commission’s Web site at http://propschools.texasworkforce.org.
For more information, prospective students can call the commission at (512) 936-3100 or e-mail career.schools@twc.state.tx.us.
Those wishing to contact the Texas Board of Nursing may seek information about approved nursing education programs by e-mailing webmaster@bon.state.tx.us or calling (512) 305-6816, or by visiting the board’s Web site at http://www.bon.state.tx.us.
