MONTREAL -- The legal battle to save Quebec's school boards continued on Monday, as the province appealed a stay of proceedings that allows the province's English boards to continue existing.
The province's lawyers argued to a panel of three judges that Bill 40 does not abolish school boards but rather modifies them. Under Bill 40, school boards will be re-named service centres and the province argued that those centres will still be in charge of the same schools currently controlled by school boards.
Under Bill 40, English school boards will still be permitted to elect members.
However, lawyers for the Quebec English School Board Association argued that if Bill 40 is re-instated for the English sector, it would cause “irreparable harm and administrative disruption” due to a second legal challenge attacking Bill 40's merits.
The QESBA is also asking that school board elections, currenctly scheduled for Nov. 1, be postponed.
The judges are expected to render a decision on Thursday.
