Yellowknife (Oct 24/03) - A squeeze from the minister appears to have ended the public school board saga as trustees withdrew their quest, Wednesday night, for superintendent Judith Knapp's termination.

Minister of Education Jake Ootes sent a letter to trustees earlier that day asking them to cease and desist in their motion to recommend Knapp's contract be terminated.

More than 50 chanting citizens came out to support their superintendent before the 6 p.m. board meeting started.

Once the meeting was called to order, Trustee Terry Brookes moved to stop the in-camera meeting slated to terminate Judith Knapp's contract.

Amid catcalls from the public, the often confusing meeting jumped back and forth, but eventually ended in the rescinding of the motion to fire Knapp.

Maureen Miller, Dan Schofield and Rob Meckling appeared to have a change of heart over the course of the meeting, agreeing to hand the reigns over to the new board.

Desjarlais adjourned the meeting at 6:45 p.m saying: "The people have spoken and that's that."

Following the meeting, Meckling said the controversy has been hard on him and his family.

After much soul-searching, Meckling decided to walk away from the issue and leave the decisions to the new board.

"It's clear that the voters wanted a change," he said.

"I have to respect that. This is not my decision to make at this time," he said.

Knapp was pleased at the enormous support she received, saying her job is not out of danger, but in the hands of the new board.

"I'm hoping they will look at things with new eyes," she said.

"I just feel that the right people are in the right positions," Knapp said.

The public still doesn't know the reasons behind the termination crusade, as trustees will not disclose information regarding personnel matters.

During the meeting, Meckling assured the public that the board did not come upon their actions lightly.

An independent review of the superintendent, completed earlier this year, was never released to the public.

The board would not comment on the grounds for dismissal, other than differences between Knapp and the school district.