The owners of a private landscape design college in Tucson could lose their state license in a hearing Monday in Phoenix.
The license for Fleur de Lis Institute, 1133 S. Swan Road, has been in jeopardy for months.
The licensing board, the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education, denied the school's license renewal in July, but Fleur de Lis has been allowed to stay open during appeals.
Company President Marjorie Schaeffer said her attorney will ask for an extension at the hearing.
"I have high hopes for Fleur de Lis, as I always have," she said, adding the quality of education at the school has never been compromised.
In August, the board issued an order outlining seven reasons the school shouldn't have a license:
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- Failure to make basic program information available to prospective students and the public.
- Financial and management problems.
- Failure to comply with state regulations.
- Lack of accreditation.
- Problems with the school's application for license renewal.
- Failure to follow its own policies.
- Failure to comply with board orders.
Of the seven allegations, only two "are at all valid," Schaeffer said. All refunds that were owed to students have been paid, she said.
The board has not handled the case well, having to correct the July denial to a probationary status in September and failing to hear the school's responses to the allegations, Schaeffer said.
Since the case was made public by the Arizona Daily Star, Fleur de Lis has lost $500,000 in business and at least 22 students, she said.
"There's been a tremendous amount of injustice," the company's president said.
In a September board meeting, the owners explained that the problems started when funding was cut off during an investigation by major student-loan provider Sallie Mae involving a student complaint.
The complaint turned out to be false, but the lender stopped doing business with Fleur de Lis in June 2006.
That led to financial problems, including long delays in reimbursing students and bounced paychecks for instructors.
The hearing is the last step in the appeals process.
If it commences as scheduled, Administrative Law Judge Diane Mihalsky may uphold or overturn the denial order after hearing both sides and witnesses.