Private Christian school seeks judicial review of closure
Closing school was 'calculated' and 'unlawful' attack by government, applicants say
Trinity Christian School Association and Wisdom Home Schooling Society are seeking a judicial review of Education Minister David Eggen's "unlawful" decision to shut down their operations.
In a court application filed Tuesday in Grande Prairie, Trinity, Wisdom and two pairs of school parents seek a declaration that Eggen's Oct. 25 decision to cancel Trinity's accreditation, registration and funding was "unreasonable, violates the principles of natural justice, is contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, or is otherwise invalid."
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Closing the school was a breach of students' and parents' charter rights because "it was effected by calculated attack in an arbitrary, hostile and capricious fashion, and for an unlawful purpose," the application states.
Trinity and Wisdom want a judge to find that both organizations "are in substantial compliance with the School Act and all other pertinent legislation." They seek reinstatement of their funding and registration, and for Alberta Education to be prohibited from seizing student files.
The applicants give notice to the Alberta government that it must be in a Grande Prairie courtroom on Friday when the application is to be heard.
Jeremy Nolais, Eggen's chief of staff, said he couldn't comment on the application as the matter is before the courts.
"Our first priority continues to be assisting with families and students to make their transition to a new school authority as smooth as possible," Nolais said in an emailed statement.
Alberta Education shut down Trinity and Wisdom after a financial review found questionable spending and conflicts of interest. The review found that public funding from Trinity was directed to Wisdom, even though Wisdom had "no relationship" with Alberta Education.
The closure affected 13 classroom students and another 3,500 home-schooled students — about 30 per cent of all home-schooled children in Alberta.
In the 11-page application, filed in Grande Prairie Court of Queen's Bench, the two organizations say they were blindsided by Eggen's move to shut them down.
'Strangers' showed up at school
They accuse Eggen and Alberta Education of "bullying, intimidating and publicly humiliating" them by telling the media about the closure without notifying them first.
Trinity only learned of the closure when "three adult individuals" showed up at the school and began approaching students as they left the building, the application states. The strangers had envelopes with students' names on them. "The students were afraid to speak to the individuals, who were strangers to them," it says.
The applicants say Eggen made "false and misleading statements," including that Trinity had failed to properly supervise its education program and had misappropriated or mismanaged public funds.
Closing the school is a breach of charter rights because "it was effected by calculated attack in an arbitrary, hostile and capricious fashion, and for an unlawful purpose," the application states.
None of the allegations included in the application have been proven in court.
'Maliciously and in bad faith'
The application says Eggen failed to exercise his discretion in accordance with the charter by, among other things, "informing media and the public of the alleged misconduct of Trinity maliciously and in bad faith, with no apparent purpose other than harming Trinity and Wisdom."
The government had said that Wisdom had "no relationship" with Alberta Education, but the applicants say Wisdom was "organized at the request of, and with permission from, Alberta Education" to operate Trinity's home-schooling program.
They say Alberta Education expressed concern in 1997 that Trinity's program was growing too large for its lone administrator to handle, and "demanded" that Wisdom be registered as a non-profit society to operate the program.
"Trinity complied with these instructions from Alberta Education and thereafter operated the program through Wisdom, with the full knowledge and approval of Alberta Education," the court documents state.
"From 1997 through to September of 2016, the respondent continuously approved of Wisdom managing the program and providing services to Trinity."