Home school shut down amid allegations of misspending takes Alberta to court

EDMONTON — Two agencies overseeing thousands of home-schooled children in Alberta are asking a court to reverse the province’s decision to pull funding and accreditation over allegations of misspending.

Trinity Christian School Association and the Wisdom Home Schooling Society say in a court application that they have done nothing wrong.

They say the province OKed their finances for years, and the decision to pull the plug last week came with no notice and no chance to tell their side of the story.

“The closure has already caused enormous stress, anxiety, hardship and uncertainty to 3,500 students and their parents,” says the application filed in Grande Prairie Court of Queen’s Bench on Tuesday.

“The (closure) decision (by the province) must comply with the rule of law, including the public law principles that require public decision-makers to act fairly and reasonably.”

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Trinity and Wisdom, along with some parents, are asking a Court of Queen’s Bench judge for an injunction to reverse the closure until both sides can present their cases in greater detail.

The hearing is set for Friday in Grande Prairie.

A spokesman for Education Minister David Eggen declined comment.

“As the matter you have inquired about is before the courts, we cannot comment further,” said Jeremy Nolais in a statement Wednesday.

“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 121 of the students affected have found new schooling arrangements.

Trinity and Wisdom had been overseeing 3,500 home-schooled students and 13 others in a school setting in Cold Lake. That represents about one-third of all home-schooled students in Alberta.

Trinity had been receiving more than $5 million a year from the province to administer the program. Trinity, in turn, was subcontracting the work to Wisdom, a non-profit agency run by Trinity administrator Ken Noster.

On Oct. 25, Eggen cancelled accreditation and funding for Trinity and, by extension, Wisdom. He cited a government report that alleged numerous spending irregularities over the last three years.

The report said the senior ranks of both Trinity and Wisdom were essentially made up of two families. It said those families, whose names were not made public, received $2.8 million in compensation over the last three years.

It also said that almost all the money given to Trinity was redirected to Wisdom, where multiple financial irregularities included lavish per diems, double dipping on mileage and travel expenses, and employment contracts to other family members.

It said taxpayer money was used for alcohol, gifts, gift cards, pizza, parties, babysitting costs and funeral expenses.

The report stated that over the last three years, Wisdom improperly held back $988,000 that was to go to parents for home schooling.

Wisdom and Trinity deny the allegations.

Noster could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The province has notified Revenue Canada and the RCMP.

Opposition politicians have accused Eggen of acting too quickly. They say contingency plans should have been in place, such as having an interim administrator ready when the Trinity contract was cancelled.

On Monday, Premier Rachel Notley told the house the government has a duty to act swiftly when it learns money that is supposed to go to students is not reaching them.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press