The NDP provincial government stepped into another minefield last week, taking the extraordinary step to cancel Trinity Christian School Association’s registration and accreditation as a private school operator, citing financial impropriety.
The decision to shut down the association was a cause of concern and consternation for several local parents whose children are among 3,500 home-education students registered for the 2016-17 school year through Trinity. Many of these parents saw this as just one more attack on parental choice and as well, religious education. The government has directed Trinity/Wisdom students to register in another public or private school authority. That’s a tall order for schools in the region to absorb another 3,500 students without a hiccup, two months into the school year.
More importantly, one has to wonder how this decision will impact the students and parents in question. No doubt, the government has a responsibility to ensure taxpayer dollars are not mismanaged, and that public and private school boards are accountable. But if a public school board was the one being accused of financial impropriety, would the government take the extraordinary step of closing down the associated schools and leaving hundreds of students in the lurch, partway through the school year? Surely there would be interim measures to dissolve the board, and to bring in outside financial management first.
From the outset, it looks like there may be serious cause for concern in the allegations, as Alberta Education has already stated it will be giving the results of its findings to the Canada Revenue Agency and the RCMP to decide if there is a need for further investigation. Given that Trinity has vowed to fight the charges in court and that several parents are standing beside their home-schooling association, it appears it is too early to pre-judge the charges.
What doesn’t require a lot of analysis, however, is that once again, the NDP government is ready to plunge hastily and headlong into controversial decisions, unaware or uncaring of the political damage it will wreak on itself in time for the next provincial election.
