‘Unbelievably welcoming:’ parent shares positive experience at school where abuse is alleged

The allegations of abuse from multiple former students at Saskatoon’s Legacy Christian Academy – formerly known as Christian Centre Academy – sent waves of outrage across the province.

One parent, though, is expressing a different view about the school.

Roz Kohut said her nine-year-old daughter started at the school last year. Since then, she said, her child has been thriving and excelling beyond her expectations.

Kohut said she isn’t claiming the allegations aren’t true, but wanted to speak up because of the positive experience her family has had with the school.

She said the environment has been good for her daughter, and allows independent learning.

“She gets to set her goals for what she wants to accomplish, and she gets to push herself naturally,” Kohut said

According to Kohut, her daughter was able to finish her work for the term about three weeks before the end of the year, and was then able to begin next year’s work.

Kohut, who joined CKOM/CJME’s John Gormley on Tuesday morning, said her daughter now wants to push herself even further and graduate a year early.

“For a nine-year-old to say that, they’ve gotta be doing something right,” Kohut said.

The classroom layout at the school is a little bit different compared to what she’s experienced herself, but Kohut said the cubicle-like desks help with independent learning. She said her daughter has enjoyed the learning style, and hasn’t been afraid to ask for help when she needs it.

The parent said she hasn’t been concerned about the social aspects of the school, and her daughter has been able to make friends there.

Kohut is not religious and doesn’t go to church, nor does her family, but that didn’t stop her daughter from getting into the school. She said she believes in giving her daughter the opportunity to make her own decisions.

“They’ve been unbelievably welcoming to us, and welcoming to her, and I’ve never been asked to come to the church or told to join the church,” Kohut said. “None of that has ever been mentioned to me in the whole year we were there.”

The allegations of abuse at the school – made by more than a dozen former students – have not been tested before the courts. No criminal charges have been laid, but a lawsuit has been filed seeking damages from 22 separate plaintiffs.

Earlier on Tuesday, Forest Grove Community Church ended its lease agreement with Grace Christian Academy after learning a staff member there was one of the named plaintiffs.

Last week, Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced a suite of oversight measures, including supervisors appointed at Legacy Christian Academy and other independent schools where staff members were named in the lawsuit.

–With files from The Canadian Press.