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Mar 5, 2009 8:45 pm US/Eastern
CSB Students Saddened By Sudden Closure
MONROEVILLE (KDKA) ―
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CSB students in Monroeville were saddened by the school's sudden closure.
KDKA
The nationally-known Connecticut School of Broadcasting or CSB opened its doors in 1964.
Those doors closed abruptly across the country late Wednesday after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The schools were designed to give students interested in careers in broadcasting a "hands-on" experience. One of its newest campuses was in Monroeville.
There had been little or no warning. The tears of those displaced were of disbelief.
The order to lock the doors hit students, faculty and administrators like a thunderbolt.
Local school director Wendy Murdy was blindsided.
"We were told that CSB was looking for a buyer, but they had many interested sellers," she said.
In a conference call, word came that CSB was immediately closing its 27 locations in 15 states and Washington, D.C.
Murdy notified students in an e-mail message expressing her shock, disgust and professional outrage at the Connecticut headquarters' decision.
Tim Cain is one of the 25 students currently enrolled who paid nearly $12,000 for the 16-week course.
Graduation was set for next week.
A big selling point of CSB was lifetime job placement and lifetime use of the equipment at any of its schools.
"I did my part - they didn't do theirs - as far as I'm concerned it's a breech of contract on their behalf," he said.
It is not clear what will happen to records and references for the 125 students that have graduated from the Pittsburgh campus since it opened in 2007 - or to their certification.
"Taking away my paycheck is one thing, but leaving me with 125 students who still need me - they're going to be with me most nights," said an anguished admissions director, Ralph Hamilton.
National City Bank has frozen all of the school's accounts, including payroll.
"And that's just something we lean on our families and friends for and wait for unemployment to kick in," Murdy said.
While many of the CSB schools were in debt, its Pittsburgh operation was successful and making a substantial profit.
And it was obvious from the gathering outside the school that the loss goes beyond dollars and cents, according to Murdy.
"It amazes me that nationwide there's an outcry from so many angry students, but here in Pittsburgh, the students thanking us personally for what we've done - it's amazing to me and it breaks my heart even more," she said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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