Ministry of Education appoints supervisors at independent schools after abuse allegations

Following allegations by more than a dozen former students of abuse at Legacy Christian Academy in Saskatoon, the provincial government has introduced new rules giving it more oversight over Saskatchewan’s independent schools.

A number of former students have filed a class-action lawsuit, asking for more than $25 million for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, negligence, assault, battery, infliction of mental suffering and conspiracy to injure minors.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Education, amendments have been made to The Registered Independent School Regulations. The amendments are designed to increase accountability and give Dustin Duncan, Saskatchewan’s minister of education, the authority to appoint a supervisor to oversee schools when he feels it is necessary.

Supervisors will be appointed at Legacy Christian Academy, Grace Christian School and Regent Academy, all of which have employees who were named in lawsuits filed by former students.

Two of those schools are located in Saskatoon. Regent Academy is in Prince Albert.

The province will also be making inspection visits to these schools monthly, the government said in a statement. Usually, schools in Saskatchewan are subject to three unannounced, supervised government visits each school year. That number has been increased to 10 for the three schools under supervision.

“Student safety is of the utmost importance, and we take all allegations and complaints seriously,” Duncan said in that statement.

“We have taken action to ensure that all students can feel safe, protected and respected no matter what school they attend.”

In an interview with Gormley on Thursday, Duncan said the increase in oversight will give administrators the power to work for the ministry at the school as a trustee, and the ability “to exercise the powers and duties that otherwise would be vested in the board of an independent school.”

The minister called the powers “significant.”

The changes also allow Duncan to put schools on probation if he feels it’s necessary, and require qualified independent schools to notify the ministry within 24 hours of any allegations of criminal activity or criminal charges laid against staff members.

The ministry can also suspend or cancel a school’s certification, the government noted, meaning the institution would no longer be allowed to operate.

Duncan said the changes in regulatory authority came after a review revealed gaps in provincial regulations for independent schools. For example, when an independent school was informed it was the subject of a criminal investigation or complaint, the school was not required to notify the Ministry of Education, he said.

That has since been changed, Duncan said, and the new rules allow him to appoint and administrator to act as a trustee at a school that is facing any sort of allegation or investigation.

The amendments were approved by the provincial cabinet on Wednesday.

Duncan said the supervisors were appointed in response to a statement of claim filed as part of the class-action lawsuit that has been launched by former students of Christian Centre Academy — now known as Legacy Christian Academy.

“The statement of claim has clarified and informed us of who those individuals are,” Duncan said.

The Ministry of Education, Duncan added, has been directed to forward the names of licensed teachers named as defendants in the class action to the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board for further oversight and accountability measures.

Prior to 2012, Duncan said there weren’t many regulations in place surrounding independent schools in the province. The ministry decided to provide funding and, in turn, increase the amount of oversight and regulatory authority the province had in those schools.

“There are some gaps in that,” Duncan said. “We’ve fixed those gaps.”

The minister said the funding that followed allowed for approved and qualified independent schools in Saskatchewan to receive 50 per cent of the average per-student funding, province-wide. That funding and any funding increases are not a matter of ministers preferring certain schools, Duncan said.

“When there’s suggestions of funding increased to independent schools in the province, that may be the case, but that’s really the function of two things: if the overall pool of money that’s going to public schools increases, then obviously that 50 per cent is going to increase as well,” Duncan said. “And, because its based on enrolment, the more parents enrol their kids in qualified independent schools, then that increases that amount.”

Funding is important for independent schools because it helps them meet provincial requirements for qualified teachers and curriculum needs, Duncan said, while still allowing parents to have choice about where they want their kids to be educated.

The Saskatchewan NDP has called for Legacy Christian Academy’s provincial funding to be frozen. Duncan said cutting the school’s funding wouldn’t be doing anyone any favours, as it would essentially close the school.

“I’m not prepared to take that step to close the school,” he said.

“Whether it is an independent school or public school, we hold individuals accountable for actions, so we don’t close schools. Unfortunately, from time to time, we have situations where staff or teachers (have) allegations made and there are convictions made, but we don’t close the school for that alone.”

Duncan said he feels Saskatchewan schools are safe for students to attend.

“Based on the unannounced supervised inspections taken place by the ministry over the last 10 years, those inspections have raised no concerns based on the safety of the students at this time or in the past,” he said.

— With files from 650 CKOM’s Libby Giesbrecht and 980 CJME’s Shane Clausing