The John Winsolow Institute, (a/k/a Joaldo, Inc.) Bulletin #2

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To:	Current and Former Students of The John Winsolow Institute, (a/k/a Joaldo, Inc.) at 1150 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA 02169
Date:	March 18, 2010
Re:	School Closure - Options For Students

 

Please refer to Bulletin #1 before proceeding. If you were unable to complete your course of study due to the school's closure and if you were unable to have your debt cancelled using one of the remedies provided in Bulletin #1, then you may be eligible pursue one of the following options.

Option 1--Teach Out Agreement:

The Department is negotiating teach out opportunities with several licensed proprietary schools, some of which are accredited, and some are accessible via public transportation. Since there were several groups of students interrupted by the school's closure, teach out options will differ as a result of the amount of coursework completed. If students paid JWI in full, students will not incur any additional expenses. If students did not pay JWI the full amount of the contract, the balance of the contract must be paid to the teach out school. Once the terms of the teach outs are finalized with these institutions, the Department will post a bulletin next week with contact information for each of the schools. Students that would like to participate in a teach-out must provide the Department with a copy of their enrollment contract, proof of payment, and transcript, if any.

The deadline for enrolling in a teach out is Friday, April 23, 2010.

-OR-

Option 2--Claims for Restitution:

Students who do not intend to participate in a teach out may file a Claim for Restitution with the Department against the school's insurance bonds. However, until individual students exhaust the options outlined in Bulletin #1, the Department cannot accept your Claim for Restitution. In addition, if the school files for bankruptcy, students may be required to file a claim with the bankruptcy court before the Department will process claims with the insurance company. For more information about who is eligible to file a Claim and for information on the stages of the claims process, please see the Procedures for Filing A Claim For Restitution memo available on our website. In order to file a claim, please download the following documents from our website.

All claim forms must be signed in ink and the original signatures provided to the Department. To file a claim, please download the following documents from our website:

1. Claim Procedures;
2. Claim Checklist;
3. Claim for Restitution Form, please indicate name and cost of test vouchers not received;
4. Claim Worksheet;
5. W - 9 Taxpayer Identification Form (your social security number is your tax i.d.); and,
6. Commonwealth Terms and Conditions Form.

The deadline for Claims for Restitution is Friday, April 23, 2010.

If the Department requires information from individual claimants, such communications will occur via mail or email. All claimants may track the progress of their school's claims by viewing any additional bulletins available on our website or once the claims have been processed. Please be advised that it is not unusual for the claims process to take a year or more, and if the school files for bankruptcy, it could take significantly longer. Information on our website will be updated when, and only when, there is new information available. If there is no new information for a period of time, this simply means that that stage of the claims process is not yet complete.

Unfortunately, the schools' owners, John D. Vasco and Elizabeth Hunter Vasco have failed to provide the Department with a list of students who were attending the school at the time of its closure. Additionally, the school has not provided a repository of student records as required by 603 CMR 3.12(3). Therefore, Department has contacted the Office of the Attorney General for assistance. While the Department is in possession of some limited student records, we are trying to compile a list of all students who were affected by the school's closure. Any assistance you can provide in helping us to locate your classmates will be greatly appreciated.

The Department greatly appreciates your help in keeping the volume of phone calls it receives to a minimum by checking these bulletins as it helps our small staff concentrate on completing the high volume of work experienced by this unit. As such, we cannot respond to calls or emails that request updates. We thank you for your help and patience in this matter.