A group of Morinville residents are asking the Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division (GSACRD) to provide a fully secular, non faith-based education for their children and grandchildren. They argue that a public school education is a secular education and should exclude religious instruction.
All four public schools in Morinville fall under the GSACRD, a public school division offering a “Christian environment that is rooted in Catholic principles,” according to its website.
In a presentation to the board on Monday, Donna Hunter said her daughter, who attends Notre Dame Elementary School in Morinville, is entitled to receive a secular education under section 2(a) Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The act states that all Canadians have a right to freedom of conscience and religion and, said Hunter, this includes freedom from religion.
“My main concern is the religion, to me there is no separation. She goes to school, they say grace before snack, they say a prayer at every school assembly. The Christmas concert was A Miracle on Bethlehem Street, every song was Catholic,” Hunter said after Tuesday’s presentation.
She said she has already brought her concerns to Minister of Education Dave Hancock and Premier Ed Stelmach.
Referencing the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta, Hunter argued public schools are founded on the principle of inclusion and are governed by a democratic process open to every member of the community regardless of religious convictions.
“They are breaking the rights of the children under the Human Rights Act of Canada and they are breaking the rights of children under the Alberta School Act, where they have a right to a secular education from their public school system. This is the public school system,” said David Redman, who was also present at Monday’s meeting.
He has five grandchildren who attend public schools in Morinville.
“Somebody at some point has to take responsibility for the fact that you are a public school and that comes with a certain responsibility, whether you want to ignore it or not, it’s still there,” said Redman.
He said many parents assume they are not entitled to a secular education.
The province is updating the School Act and, according to a proposed framework, is considering granting the minister of education the authority to change the designation of a public school jurisdiction to a separate school jurisdiction and vice versa.
During Hunter’s presentation, Trustee David Caron pointed out that the Catholic school division was founded 148 years ago, before the province of Alberta existed.
“When we joined the province, there was simply no minority in this community, other than Catholic. There was no mechanism to form a school division other than Catholic. You’re asking us to be something that we’re not,” he told Hunter.
“We have always been a Catholic School Division, always will be,” he said.
But Hunter said she was not asking the board to become something they are not.
“If you say you are relying on history to become something you are not, I would consider that unacceptable. It’s not unreasonable to ask that our children attend a school where religion is not permeated throughout the day,” she said.
Hunter said she would like one of Morinville’s two elementary schools to offer a secular education.
“I will be satisfied if I had a school in town that was secular, where you walked in and it wasn’t Catholic,” she said.
Hunter said she knows of at least 30 like-minded residents in Morinville.
Superintendent David Keohane said the board will assess the information presented by Hunter and provide a response by the end of January.
“The response will really be based upon what the board, given the board’s mandate, is able to provide,” Keohane told the Gazette after Monday’s meeting.
“We believe that even in the face of this presentation, choice does remain an important principle on how our education system is built. And when it comes to selecting a school, parents and students have a wide range of options,” he said.
Keohane said Hunter’s request is a first for the board.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that other community members are like-minded at this time,” he said.
“Our satisfaction surveys right across the board in the community of Morinville would indicate that we provide outstanding programming for students and our existing mandate can make that meaningful.”
