The courts have given Trinity Christian School a break and they’ll be able to continue running until at least January 5th.
The Court of Queen’s Bench in Grande Prairie has granted an interim injunction to the Trinity Christian School Association. Justice E.J. Simpson made the decision Friday, with the exception of restoring its funding from the province. The school had its registration and accreditation cancelled on October 25th due to alleged financial misconduct. Lawyer Jay Cameron says he’s pleased with today’s result. “It ensures that the parents and the students who have been tremendously disrupted by this ill-considered will continue to have a school to go to until January 5th at the least.”
January 5th is the first date available for the case to be heard. In addition to a 13-student school in Cold Lake, Trinity oversees the education of 35-hundred home-schooled children across the province. Many live in the Grande Prairie area and overflowed the courtroom in support.
In his announcement of the school’s closure, Education Minister David Eggen blamed a conflict of interest, and inappropriate expenses like babysitting and funerals found in an audit. It also found that third party Wisdom Home School Society had kept nearly a million dollars in unclaimed parent funding over the past three years. Cameron argues the province was aware of their relationship.
“And has been since 1997. Wisdom was incorporated at the behest of the province in 1997. The province has approved of Wisdom’s handling of funds by letter, most recently of December 10th, 2012, and these records were not included in the province’s report, and they should have been.”
The Crown’s lawyer, Marta Burns, declined to comment.
Special Thanks to our Grande Prarie reporter Erica Fisher for the coverage.
