Province, parents speed up school closure appeal hearing

The provincial government and two parents' groups have agreed to fast-track an appeal hearing over the closure of two schools in the Saint John area.

Tuesday afternoon, lawyers for both sides announced the agreement just as they were about to go before the New Brunswick Court of Appeal for a stay on a lower-court ruling in the case.

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• Judge tells parents to send students to new schools
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The deal, approved by Chief Justice Ernest Drapeau, grants the province the stay, but also puts on hold any further moves the province might make to decommission Brown's Flat Elementary and Lorne Middle School.

That means the province and the District Education Council will maintain the buildings in case the appeal decision is to re-open them.

The appeal will be heard Sept. 25 at 10 a.m.

"This is extraordinary," Drapeau commented to the lawyers, referring to the quick timeline for the appeal. He said it was "probably the fastest ever."

The province's lawyer, Christian Michaud, was on his smartphone until the last minute before the hearing, waiting for approval of the deal from the government.

As part of the agreement to cut short the stay hearing, both sides also agreed to adjourn the parallel case before Justice Darrell Stephenson of the Court of Queen's Bench in Saint John.

The province also agreed to pay $3,000 towards the legal costs of the parents fighting the closures.

'Process flawed'

Stephenson's ruling on Aug. 28 quashed Education Minister Serge Rousselle's decision earlier this year to approve the closure of the two schools.

Stephenson ruled the Anglophone South District Education Council's process was flawed.

But Stephenson also said in his ruling he was not ordering the schools to stay open.

That prompted the DEC to declare it would keep the schools closed because it was too close to the start of the school year to undo changes made to staffing and bus routes.

In response, the lawyer representing the parents, Kelly Lamrock, went back to the Court of Queen's Bench, asking for a clear court order forcing the district to re-open the schools.

At the same time, Rousselle announced the provincial government would appeal Stephenson's quashing of his decision and ask the court to issue a stay -- meaning put it on hold -- pending the full appeal hearing, which hasn't been scheduled.

The provincial government is arguing Stephenson exceeded his authority, saying only Rousselle gets to decide if the DEC process was fair.

On Friday, Stephenson did not rule on Lamrock's request for an order, saying it was not practical to expect a school district to reverse a closure order on short notice.

"Nothing is happening here today," he said.

Stephenson said parents should send their children to their new schools on Tuesday and asked the lawyers to come back with full arguments on Sept. 14.

That hearing will be cancelled now that both sides have agreed to move quickly to the Court of Appeal hearing Sept. 25.