Randolph College for the Performing Arts ordered to cease operations

Randolph College for the Performing Arts ordered to cease operations AISLING MURPHY PUBLISHED 4 HOURS AGO UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO Open this photo in gallery: The private career college in Toronto specializing in musical theatre, dance and acting, has closed after failing to renew its accreditation with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. LAURA PROCTOR/THE GLOBE AND MAIL COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Randolph College for the Performing Arts, a postsecondary theatre school that lost its accreditation in February, has been issued a restraining order by the provincial government requiring the school to cease operations as a career college. Last week, the school told The Globe and Mail that it had filed an application with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security to reinstate its status as a college. But on Aug. 31, the ministry issued its restraining order against Randolph for contravening the Ontario Career Colleges Act. A notice on the ministry’s website said the school can no longer advertise itself as a career college, offer vocational programs or charge fees for such programming. Randolph, which until February had 86 students enrolled, operated as an unregistered career college after its accreditation expired on Feb. 1, according to the restraining order. When asked why the school’s accreditation had lapsed, founder George Randolph told The Globe it had switched auditing companies, “which took longer than anticipated.” (Randolph, who in 2017 formally resigned from the school after an independent investigator found that he had engaged in “unwelcome comments and physical gestures,” has served as vice-chair of the school’s board since 2019.) The ministry said in its restraining order that the college offered and advertised unapproved vocational programs between Feb. 1 and Aug. 28, and collected tuition fees from students enrolled in the unapproved courses. Randolph’s tuition was $13,710 per academic year for a program that condensed three academic years into two calendar years of study, for a total program cost of $41,130 per student. Failure to comply with the actions of the restraining order could result in fines of up to $250,000. Open this photo in gallery: Former students affected by the closing of the school have been provided two options by the ministry: They can…