Kim Barraclough
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 07/99) - After a petition and public outcry, the public school board has stopped funding the court case launched by superintendent Dr. Ken Woodley against parent Laurie Sarkadi.

Yellowknife District No. 1 chairperson Dan Schofield refused comment but did confirm a decision was made during a regular board meeting on April 13. Five of seven board members voted to withdraw the funding effective that day.

"Well, I'm pleased that this is no longer being institutionally backed," said the defendant Sarkadi who withheld further comment.

Originally, the lawsuit was filed against CJCD and Laurie Sarkadi last year because of comments Sarkadi allegedly made to a reporter about how Woodley was handling the school district's child abuse protocol.

The suit against CJCD was settled out of court and is no longer pending.

Up until April 13 the case had been funded by the District No. 1 School Board. Woodley had no comment about the future of the case other than that it is still pending.

Ardith Dean and about 200 parents signed a petition to have the funding of the case ceased. Dean and the other parents also wanted to know other information about the funding such as how much the board spent on the case.

Since the case is ongoing, the school board was unable to disclose the amount of money it has spent on the case.