"They weren't able to pay for the paper to print transcripts for students," said Margaret Walker, executive director of the nursing board. "So we didn't know where money was going. And we still don't."

A message left at his home in Dracut, Mass., was not returned.The nursing board is making arrangements to help the displaced students complete the last four months of the one-year program, according to Walker. Certificate program credits are not transferable, but two Nashua colleges have offered to donate classroom space that current students and instructors can use to complete the coursework.  The plan is to resume day and night programs using space at Rivier College and Nashua Community College, formerly known as New Hampshire Community Technical College, Walker said.  Teachers will be paid out of an escrow fund created with tuition payments that students still owed to Holden. 

According to former instructor Mary Heinzl, about 70 percent of the displaced students are immigrants from Africa.  Saroni, the school's director, is a native of Kenya. Heinzl said many of them are single parents or live in single-income households. English is a second language for most of them, she said. "I feel so bad for the students," Heinzl, who left the school in December amid a shake up in leadership, said. "They have worked so hard . . . there are some really awesome students. They will make great nurses." Heinzl said teachers were aware while she was there that the school was having financial trouble because paychecks were sometimes late and other times bounced. The school had about seven instructors when it closed, she said. Complaints have been filed about the school with the New Hampshire Department of Labor, according to Walker. Heinzl, who still keeps in touch with some of her former students, said students were notified of the closing Monday. 

"They were shocked," Heinzl said. "They worked so hard." Tuition to Holden's LPN program was approximately $12,000, Heinzl said. Back in 2006 - within 10 years of relocating to the U.S - Wilfred became the first Kenyan awarded the Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal in 2006 by senior members of the US Congress for his hard work and entrepreneurial resourcefulness. He was honored for establishing and managing the Holden Medical InstituteNursing students left hanging after state shuts Nashua school NASHUA, Apr 24, 2008 (The Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX)

I have close to $20,000 invested in this." Wilfred Saroni, a Dracut resident who owns the institute as well as several other health-care businesses, came under scrutiny in September 2007 when employees at the Lowell-based Holden Homecare Services complained they were not getting paid, getting paid late or receiving checks that bounced. Similar complaints began coming into the state Board of Nursing last October, according to Margaret Walker, the board's executive director. The board requested an audit of the school's financial statements. Saroni did not comply. "November. Nothing. December. Still nothing," said Walker. "We told them they could not take any new students. January and February, still nothing."

Saroni attended a hearing before the nursing board on April 17 and said he was in the process of working out an agreement to sell Holden Medical Institute to Premier Education Group, a career-training organization. Walker said Saroni's name was listed as a member of the board of directors for the new company and the governing board rejected the transfer. "Seeing his name on the list of directors was problematic," Walker said, adding that she did not see the documents until 4:30 p.m. the day before the show-cause hearing. James Boumil, a Lowell attorney who is representing Saroni, disputes Walker's claim.

"Nowhere in any of the documents does it say that Wilfred Saroni would be connected in any way to the new company coming in," Boumil said, adding that Walker knew about the deal several weeks before the hearing. "Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect." Boumil said he came away with a "warm and fuzzy feeling" after initial talks indicated that the settlement was acceptable. "We were very encouraged. We all hoped that this was all going to work out. The school would remain open and the students would be protected," Boumil said. "We did an awful lot of work and we were stunned when the deal was rejected. We believed we were on an acceptable path for everyone." Boumil said all payments are up to date. "Have payments been late in the past? Yes," said Boumil.

But the legal wranglings mean little to students like Mark Karuki, a 26-year-old Holden Medical Institute student from Lowell, who was scheduled to graduate in August. "I just want to go to school and finish," said Karuki, who has paid $2,600 of his $11,500 tuition bill. "What happens now? They have to do something. Holden is a good school with good teachers. The Board of Nursing needs to listen to us. Let us finish the year." Walker met with students at the school on Monday and explained the situation. She said the board is working to come up with a transition plan that would allow the students to continue to pay off their tuition, which would be placed into an escrow account until such time when arrangements can be made to complete their coursework. "I saw 53 very intelligent, very shocked and very hurt faces," Walker said. "The board is committed to making this work.

It's unfortunate that the students were the ones caught in the middle." Carolyn Shea, a mother with three children who lives in Leicester, has been an emergency medical technician for eight years. "I figured I'd go to school for a year, get my LPN (licensed practical nurse) certificate and make a better life for my family," Shea said. "The teachers were great. The curriculum was great and I was picking up some good and valuable skills. Then they started canceling clinicals and other classes and I knew something was wrong. They kept telling us not to worry. Now I'm worried."

In September, The Sun reported that employees of Holden Homecare Services, which is owned by Saroni and located in the former St. Joseph Hospital building, were having problems either getting paid or cashing their checks. The company also had billing problems. At the same time, the company shut down its offices in West Springfield and Worcester. Saroni has owned several businesses under the Holden Homecare Services umbrella. Nobody at Saroni's home on 8 Presidential Drive in Dracut answered the door yesterday.