To the surprise of faculty and students yesterday morning, Marinello School of Beauty closed all 56 campuses nationwide — including the school on Market Street between Seventh and Eighth where about 90 students were enrolled.
"Like an earthquake, it came out of nowhere," said Annamay Larson, senior admissions advisor at the Market Street campus, after countless conversations with the beauty school's former students and clients throughout the day.
The decision came just days after the Department of Education pulled 23 of the trade school's locations in California and Nevada from the federal financial aid program. According a press release the DOE released Monday, the department alleged that Marinello, owned by the for-profit chain B&H Education, was requesting federal aid for students with invalid high school diplomas, withholding portions of students' financial aid awards, and charging students for excessive overtime among other "acts of misrepresentation." The school had until Feb. 16th to submit evidence disputing the Department’s findings for the chance to possibly continue participating in federal financial aid programs.
In a letter to students issued yesterday morning announcing the closure, Marinello Chairman & CEO Rashed Elyas said that "the Department of Education’s unprecedented and unfounded actions left us with no other option except to close our schools."
While the letter was distributed via email, many of her students learned the news through social media that morning, Larson said. "No one knew what to do today."
The school has been located at 1035 Market St. for roughly four to five years, she said. Marinello took over Miss Marty's School of Beauty & Hairstyling — which operated downtown for more than 50 years — in the late 2000s, and moved the school from Mission Street to Market when more space was needed.
In addition to teaching a full range of cosmetology services, including barbering and skincare, Marinello was also a place where many Tenderloin residents enjoyed affordable salon services. Haircuts for men and women were just $7 each and an hour-long facial cost $35. "It was a blessing for this neighborhood," said Larson, who had been with Marinello for two years and at the San Francisco campus for one. "That's the part that breaks me; it's going to leave an effect on this area."
Devon Cary, a student who was expected to graduate in July, said he joined Marinello after his job with the city ended. He had been cutting hair around the neighborhood and after touring the campus, decided to get his barbering license. While he said the curriculum focused more on cosmetology than he expected, the school felt less organized than it should have been and many of his classmates were less focused, Cary was confident that the program would help him pass the state board exam.
As for what's next, "I have no idea," Cary said. He does not have a job at the moment and traveling across the bay for school or work is "out of the question" for him right now. "I hope a school here will take my hours, so I won't have to start all over."
The state's Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education has published a guide on its website detailing former students' rights in light of the closure. Larson says that representatives from the BPPE will reopen the Market Street campus from roughly 9am to 6pm Wednesday, Feb. 13th, to hand official transcripts to each student. Marinello has also agreed to help the students find alternative schools to continue their educations, and she hopes they will have representatives from those alternatives present that day.
Del Seymor, founder of the neighborhood career development and placement program Code Tenderloin, also let us know that a handful of former Marinello students will be joining his next class.
