Students blindsided by Kansas City massage school’s sudden closure. What happens next?
For Alexis Kramer, her dream since she was a kid was to become a massage therapist.
And as soon as her small kids got a little older — they are now 3 and 5 — she was able to enroll this past January in WellSpring School of Allied Health, an accredited massage program in Kansas City. The 27-year-old mom was expected to earn her certification in February.
“I was ready for my kids to see me live my dreams,” Kramer, of Gladstone, said. “And then, it just kind of fell apart.”
Kramer and other students at the school learned in an email earlier this month that the school was immediately closing. Some of them, including Kramer, were in class when the message came.
“We are writing to inform you, with deep regret, that WellSpring School of Allied Health will be closing effective immediately due to financial duress,” the email said. “We understand that this news is incredibly difficult to receive and may bring feelings of frustration, uncertainty, and concern about your future.
“Please know that we share in your disappointment and are committed to supporting you as best we can during this transition.”
Many knew the school was being sold, and that the sale was expected to be completed next month. But most — from current and prospective students to officials with the state — seemed to have been blindsided by the sudden closure.
Students at WellSpring’s three campuses, which is a total of about 149 students, find themselves waiting to hear from state and federal agencies to see what options, if any, they have to get their money back or continue their education. Locations in Lawrence, Kansas, and Springfield, Missouri, also closed, officials said.
Some at the Kansas City location, 9140 Ward Parkway, were weeks away from finishing, others were months. And one Garden City teen, who is fresh from her high school graduation and days ago submitted a $2,500 down payment to the school, was going to start her program later this month.
WellSpring School of Allied Health
Soon after the school’s abrupt closure, The Missouri Board of Therapeutic Massage started receiving emails and calls from students, said Katy Linnenbrink, acting communications director for the state’s Department of Commerce & Insurance.
“The board is already working to assist students and beginning to reach back out,” Linnenbrink said. “Each student is at a different step in their education for licensure.”
The WellSpring “transition team” is working with several “relevant agencies,” Linnenbrink said, including the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, and the Missouri Board of Therapeutic Massage.
The goal is “to ensure that students have an opportunity to continue on the path to licensure and accomplish their dream of becoming a licensed, professional massage therapist,” she said. “Additionally, the Missouri Massage Therapy Community has reached out offering help.
Why WellsSpring closed
Behind the scenes, and before the closure, the outstanding debts were too much to overcome to allow the school to stay open, said Luke Ellis, founder and CEO of ReVera Capital, an investment bank that was brought in to help with the sale.
“There was already several million dollars worth of debt on the business when we came in and started trying to assist,” Ellis said.
He and his company initially worked for the potential buyer of the school. But in February, after the CEO suddenly resigned, ReVera began working with WellSpring to try to find the best path forward.
“I have a heavy heart about how this all played out because we tried everything possible,” Ellis said.
Now, Ellis said, he and his company are “literally exploring every option” to help students, including talking with the U.S. Department of Education to determine if another school can come in and help students finish their programs.
“I have a significant amount of our team hours going toward this still,” he said. “Because we want to make sure it gets done right, and we minimize the damage to everybody as much as possible.”
He expects to send out an email soon to students with more information.
Missouri’s Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development has a designated page online to guide students on what they can do.
The page says that the department “is committed to supporting those impacted by the closure through the next steps.”
No idea about financial struggles
In April, Kramer said, students at the Kansas City location got an email explaining that the school was being sold.
But they were assured, she said, it wouldn’t impact them or their schooling. They learned that the ownership of the school would transfer to the new buyer on July 16.
“At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to your education,” the email said. “Your program, schedule, faculty, and student services are expected to remain uncharged, and all institutional commitments to students will continue under the new ownership.”
Around that time, students still hadn’t received all of their books yet or a massage table that each student was supposed to receive as part of their tuition.
“It’s something we had already paid for,” Kramer said. “And we were supposed to get it at the end of our first quarter, in our first three months.”
“The time had passed, and we hadn’t gotten it, and they kept telling us, ‘Oh, we’re going through a sale right now, like, just be patient, our finances are on freeze.’”
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Nobody discussed or described a dire financial situation, she said.
“We were just told not to worry, that it was coming soon. … We didn’t second guess it. We trusted them.”
Then on June 3, around 3 p.m., Kramer was in the middle of her second class that day when the school sent out that closure email. The class was on techniques and students were paired at massage tables, and didn’t have their phones.
“Some kid saw it on her Apple Watch and like freaked out and jumped up to grab her phone,” Kramer said. “So then we all were like, ‘What’s going on?’ And we grabbed our phones.
“We all just kind of stood there, confused. … I think things were way worse than they ever painted a picture on, because we had no idea of the financial distress.”
Kramer now waits to see if something will work out for her and her classmates.
“I was halfway through and it’s just over,” Kramer said. “I was very excited for my kids to be able to see me walk a stage.”
‘We got scammed out of money’
McKenzie Clayborn, 18, graduated from Sherwood High School in Cass County last month. For the past several months, after doing research and meeting with people, she and her family knew what her next journey would be.
“I was showing everyone that I was going to massage therapy school,” said McKenzie, of Garden City. “And they were all happy for me.”
On May 26, McKenzie and her mom, Joelene, went to WellSpring School — a place that made them “feel like home” — one more time. McKenzie learned from the school’s corporate director of financial aid, that she had earned a $1,000 scholarship from the school, her mom said. Everything was set.
“We dropped $2,500 cash,” Joelene Clayborn said. “And I got the receipt from them.”
A text from the school came on June 2, as the family was at Worlds of Fun. It was from the director of financial aid, the family said, asking McKenzie to go into her financial aid information and confirm that she did earn her high school diploma. She did that right away.
The next day, McKenzie got the same news as other students. WellSpring was closing immediately.
“Somebody knew,” Joelene Clayborn said, as she then directed her frustration to the director of financial aid who took the family’s money on May 26. “In finance, you had to have known. You, in my book, are a chicken poop. That’s not the right word that I really want to use, but that’s what you are.”
McKenzie’s dad, Steve Clayborn, also can’t fathom how everything changed from May 26 to June 3.
“Six business days,” he said. “There’s no way that he did not know. So I just feel that we got scammed out of money.
“ ... If you knew your school was in that hardships and distress, I mean, you should never enroll the kids and took money down for enrollment.”
Steve Clayborn said the closure of the school “really disappointed” his daughter “by how people treat people.”
“I mean, that should not happen.”
Instead of starting her new massage therapy program on June 23, McKenzie said she’s back to ground zero, looking for a new professional path.
