Nine Inlingua Language Schools close abruptly

and employees were left scrambling when an Orlando school for adult English learners — part of a chain of nine statewide — closed abruptly earlier this month.

Nine Inlingua Language Schools closed Nov. 4, according to an email from the management citing “exorbitant attorneys’ fees” from a lawsuit related to a bankruptcy County.

Most of the students who attended Inlingua were not U.S. citizens, former Orlando employees said. They have student visas and must leave the country if they can’t find other schools where they can enroll.

“Many students were left out in the cold and they were calling me and asking me, ‘Teacher, what do I do?’” said Nicky Reed, who taught at the Orlando camStudents case in Dade pus for five years, “I told them I have no idea.”

The Orlando Sentinel couldn’t reach Inlingua leaders this week. Phone numbers listed on the company’s social media pages and an email for an administrator weren’t working.

The Orlando campus, in the Dr. Phillips area, served 200 to 300 students, the former employees said. Several former teachers, who said they worked on contracts and are ineligible for unemployment benefits, haven’t been paid for about three to four weeks of work. Students paid several hundred dollars per month to attend classes, they said.

Many of the Orlando students came from Brazil, the former teachers said. Students who receive visas to attend American language schools that close must enroll somewhere else within 15