Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 08/99) - A local parent, concerned about Yellowknife Education District No. 1's handling of a lawsuit, will be taking her case directly to board members Tuesday night.

Ardith Dean, who began circulating a petition concerning the lawsuit last fall, will be speaking to the board at a regular meeting Tuesday.

She'll also be presenting trustees with a petition, circulated around Yellowknife, which more than 200 local residents have signed.

Board superintendent Ken Woodley launched the suit last fall. He is suing radio station CJCD, station employees Karl Geraghty and Brent Pushkarenko and parent Laurie Sarkadi. It came out of a series about the board's child abuse prevention protocol broadcast in December of 1997.

Dean and her supporters question the board's support of the lawsuit.

"The message is: how much have we spent on this," Dean said Wednesday. "People are entitled to know ... Why are we settling this silliness in court when we should be teaching our children?"

"Have we spent two teacher salaries? Three (on the lawsuit)?"

Both Woodley and board members have said any monies resulting from the suit, should Woodley win, will not be going to the superintendent.

"It's not a personal lawsuit," Trustee Terry Brookes said in November. "It's an employee's lawsuit by an employee of the corporation ... The biggest thing they (the board) are looking for is an apology."

Dean said there are still 20 copies of her petition which have not yet been returned to her. They can either be dropped off at her home or delivered to the board office, she said.

The board meeting, which gets under way at 7:30 p.m., is open to the public.