Brown's Flat Elementary School closure court hearing wraps up

A group of parents from Brown's Flat who were in a Saint John court Wednesday fighting against the planned closure of Brown's Flat Elementary School will have to wait longer to learn the fate of their school.

"I feel that the judge was really fair, listening to what both sides had to say," said Tracie Kennedy, who has one child in the school. "I think he's going to give it some good deliberation and we're really hopeful."

In late April, it was announced the K-5 school with 43 students was to be closed and students would have to take a bus to Grand Bay Primary, 22 kilometres away.

Court wrapped today just after noon today and Judge Darrell Stephenson did not set a date for a decision.

The Brown's Flat parents were represented in court by lawyer Kelly Lamrock, who also happens to be a former education minister.

Lamrock argued the review process was not followed, noting it was shortened and that the reasons for closing the school were not given.

"You have an elected DEC (district education council), you have an elected minister and both have refused to explain why. And in a democracy, if somebody's going to close your school they should stand up on the hind legs and tell you why," he said outside the courthouse."

Lamrock argued the motivation behind closing the school was purely financial, and said the rules say the decision "can't just be financial. There are values."

Stephenson noted the reasons the province gave for closing the school were declining enrolment, as well as a staff recommendation.

Amy Gough Farnsworth, the lawyer representing the province, said declining enrolment was a good reason to close the school, noting that one class had only nine students in it, which is "almost a private education," she said.

Keeping the court out of the classroom

Stephenson was not keen on using the court to resolve the matter.

"I desperately want to keep the court out of managing educational resources in the province," he said.

Lamrock said the court has plenty of precedent for quashing ministerial decisions and noted that when he was the education minister, the same court overturned a ministerial decision.

Lamrock said the worst thing that would happen if the judge overturned the decision was that Brown's Flat Elementary would remain open for another year. He said the education minister and the school district could use that time to create a better procedure for reviewing school closures.

On a mobile device? Tap here to follow our live blog.