An unaccredited nursing school that operates out of a Longwood office plaza was \u201cdeceptive\u201d and \u201csystematically misled\u201d students, failing to provide them proper clinical training, arbitrarily stopping some from graduating and collecting steep tuition while failing to deliver the education it promised, according to a lawsuit recently filed by four former students.<\/p>\n
Riggs College of Allied Health Sciences, which opened in 2020, has had a troubled run, with the state placing it on probation last year and then in May limiting how many new students could enroll. Both actions were taken because few of its graduates were passing the national licensing exam required to work as a registered nurse.<\/a><\/p>\n Of the nine first-time test-takers who have have sat for the exam this year, just two have passed, according to data available on the Florida Board of Nursing\u2019s website.<\/p>\n And the Seminole County school stopped other students \u2014 even if they had completed the required coursework \u2014\u00a0 from taking the National Council Licensure Examination, often called the NCLEX, according to the students\u2019 lawsuit filed in Seminole County Circuit Court.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear why Riggs might have prevented the plaintiffs from sitting for the exam, but the lawsuit says the school engaged in \u201carbitrary and selective enforcement of academic policies,\u201d allowing some of their classmates to graduate and test even though they failed to meet required benchmarks. The students who filed the suit, on the other hand, were not able to take the exam even though they had meet the school\u2019s published requirements, it says.<\/p>\n The students are seeking compensation for tuition, fees, out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages, as well as a judge\u2019s declaration that they are eligible to take the NCLEX.<\/p>\n The lawsuit also alleges Riggs misrepresented the length of its program, telling students already licensed as practical nurses that they could become registered nurses within 15 to 16 months \u2014\u00a0 and then routinely extending students\u2019 coursework to two, three or four years. It also placed students for their clinical hours in long-term care facilities that were \u201cinconsistent with RN program requirements,\u201d it said<\/p>\n The suit names Riggs, its owner and president Oladimeji Adekunle, and its owner and administrator Abiola Adekunle as defendants. Ali Kamalzadeh, an attorney representing the school, declined to comment on the details of the students\u2019 allegations but wrote in a statement\u00a0 the claims \u201chave not been tested, adjudicated, or answered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy clients dispute the allegations, believe they are not supported by the facts or the applicable law, and intend to defend against them vigorously through the ordinary course of litigation, where the claims will be evaluated under the rules of evidence,\u201d Kamalzadeh wrote.<\/p>\n Riggs is a local example of the poorly performing schools that have opened in Florida since 2009, when the state eased requirements for new programs to offer nursing classes<\/a>. Seeking to address the state\u2019s nursing shortage, lawmakers opened the door for more private, for-profit schools to set up shop in Florida, resulting in hundreds of new schools enrolling students over the past 15 years.\u00a0Riggs College, located in a professional complex off State Road 434, was among the newcomers.<\/p>\n