Shutdown Could Make Oakdale Beauty School Grads Wait to Work

Kelly Flipp, a student at Oakdale’s , let her cosmetology license lapse during a stint as a bartender.

But she missed the salon atmosphere and the daytime hours, she said, so now she’s studying to get it reinstated.

And although she graduates July 20, if the Minnesota state government shutdown doesn’t end by then or soon after, Flipp said, she might be forced to take on another bartending job until it’s over.

“I definitely want to have some income coming in as soon as possible,” she said.

Due to the shutdown, new cosmetology licenses and license renewals aren’t being processed.

Of the 26 students at the school—which has been at 6993 35th St. N. for seven years—a handful might be affected by the shutdown, said staff member Rebecca Klosner.

“They can’t work until they have that paper in their hand,” Klosner said.

A couple of students from South Dakota ended up having to pay for more schooling in their home state because the licensing requirements are stiffer there, and they couldn’t get licensed here, Klosner said.

Even after the government re-starts, Klosner said she’s worried the processing time could take more than the usual four to six weeks due to a pileup of paperwork.

“None of those people can take their tests, so then it’s just the waterfall of people trying to get in,” she said. “Luckily, it’s not life or death, it’s just frustrating.”

Megan Gibney, another student who will finish studying nail technology at the end of July, said she’s got a job lined up in a friend’s salon in Ely when she graduates. She too could face not being able to work if the shutdown is prolonged, she said, but she expects it to be over soon.

“I’m not too concerned,” she said. “I just can’t see it going on for too long.”

She chose the Oakdale school because she could start quickly, she said, and she’s excited to start her new career. She’s hopeful a state government shutdown won’t get in the way of that, she said.

“I’m not opposed to the reasons for the shutdown,” she said. “I think it does need to be resolved quickly, though, because it does affect people in little ways you would never think of.”