By Curtis Galbraith - Big Country 93.1-FM - Pattison Broadcasting

Agreement reached in dispute between home schooling group and province

Jan 5, 2017 | 4:57 PM

GRANDE PRAIRIE –  An agreement has been reached in a dispute between the Trinity Christian School Association and the province.
 
The province had pulled funding last fall after questions arose over expense from Trinity and the Wisdom Home Schooling Society.
 
Under the agreement presented in Grande Prairie Court of Queen’s Bench Thursday, Trinity will continue to operate as an accredited school, both for it’s in school and home school clients.
 
Wisdom will not have any governance role and all expenses will be paid out of one Trinity bank account.
 
A financial administrator will be appointed for a 12 month period and all funding, held between October and December, will be released.
 
Trinity lawyer Jay Cameron calls this a good resolution.
 
“I think my client is satisfied. I think the agreement that’s been reached is balanced. I think it makes sense and, as Justice Simpson said, I think it addresses any concerns he would have had as well.”
 
Justice E.J. Simpson told the court he was not impressed with either side in the dispute, saying two reasonable people could have met to work things out and doing better by taxpayers by not going to the expense of a court case.
 
Cameron says the judge is right.
 
“In a dispute, sometimes people get into positions, they make decisions that are not in perhaps their own best interest or some of the interests that are involved in other parties and I think that happens in almost all litigation. I think that the parties are able to re-set the relationship, have a clean slate.” 
 
The judge also said the two sides were acting like the two sides in a matrimonial dispute, putting their own needs ahead of the kids. He went on to say the questionable funeral expense was a $4.47 sympathy card for the family of a teacher who died, adding making an issue of this was uncalled for and a smear.
 
He also lectured Trinity, saying concerns first came up in 2013 and that Trinity continued to operate the same way, something he described as self-righteous.