Coles Island parents plan lawsuit to keep school open
Some parents from another New Brunswick school that was ordered to be shut down by the Department of Education are gearing up for a legal challenge.
Stephen McCready, a spokesperson for the Coles Island School parents committee, said they feel they are in the same situation as those in Brown's Flat and Lorne Middle school parents, who won a court case last week.
Following the legal victory scored by those parents, McCready said his group is preparing to file its own legal challenge.
"We've been back and forth and talking and there are enough parents to support a court challenge at this time," McCready said.
"As of [Tuesday] night that was the message that I was given, is that we are going to take this to the end and to the court."
The Anglophone West School District voted in March to recommend the closure of the Coles Island school. The education minister accepted the district education council's recommendation.
Coles Island School is a K-5 school and has 30 students.
Students from Coles Island would go to either Chipman or Cambridge Narrows. The elementary school in Chipman is 40 kilometres away while the K-12 school in Cambridge Narrows is 22 kilometres away.
District plans
Justice Darrell Stephenson quashed the education minister's decision to close the two schools in a ruling last week, saying the process that led to the decision was flawed.
But because the judge didn't explicitly order the schools open, the school district says it will keep them closed.
The Anglophone South School District issued a statement on Tuesday saying it has already reassigned teachers and staff, made student transportation plans and removed school equipment.
Kelly Lamrock, a lawyer representing the parents at the schools, said he is going back to court to try to force the provincial government to reopen the schools.
Education Minister Serge Rousselle declined to comment on Tuesday. Officials from his office told CBC News he is still reviewing Friday's court decision.
