The preliminary hearing for the St. George?s Prep appeal will be held today at 1 p.m. And, depending on how that hearing goes, the matter may be taken straight to court. Twenty-five families are appealing a Ministry of Education decision to close the second Primary One stream to the popular St. George?s Prep, saying they want the right to send their children to the school of their choice.

The hearing will iron out procedural matters before the appeal itself can begin, lawyer for the families Richard Horseman said yesterday. One of those matters is the question of whether or not the Ministry of Education is the proper respondent to the appeal.

If the school is aided, which St. George?s Prep is, the proper party to be appealed to is the Board of Trustees, Mr. Horseman said. Then, the Education Act stipulates, the ?relevant authority? (which is not defined) will be bound by the result of the appeal.

In this case, the Board of Trustees happens to agree with the appellants. Both want the second stream to stay open ? meaning, Mr. Horseman said, it should be a quick appeal.

The ?relevant authority?, it is assumed, is therefore the Minister and Ministry of Education, the body which the parents wanted to appeal to in the first place. ?It could be problematic, in the sense that this (the closing of the second stream) was the decision of the Minister and the Ministry, and having to challenge them through the Board of Trustees ... may work in our favour,? Mr. Horseman said.

?But they could say we?re not the correct respondents.? If so, the matter will be taken to court ... We may take it to court to challenge the Minister?s decision.?