Christian schools caught in jurisdiction war
by Cindy Stephen

The future of two private Christian schools in Calgary seeking public funding through a rural school board 200 kilometres away rests in the hands of the courts.

The Calgary Board of Education filed a lawsuit against the Palliser Regional School Division based in Lethbridge last month claiming the region should not be able to include out of bounds schools. Menno Simons Christian School and Heritage Christian Academy joined the Christian Alternative program offered by the Palliser district earlier this year after being rejected by the Calgary public board because of their policy of not including faith-based schools.

Gordon Dirks, CBE Board Chair told the Calgary Herald that the board is “making a principled stand.”

“If you are going to allow school boards to operate outside of their boundaries, it could have broad and deep implications for public education governance in the province,” Dirks said.

Dr. Garry Andrews, superintendent of the Palliser Region, told board members at their June meeting that the School Act supports Palliser’s position. When the issue was raised at an Alberta School Board Association conference in Red Deer in the spring, Palliser district board chairman Don Zech stated that Palliser’s position would clearly be not to take on the City of Calgary.

Andrews noted that in the case of both Heritage Christian Academy and Menno Simons Christian School, both schools had to be denied before being accepted into their alternative program.

“We were turned down flat,” said Sean Wiebe, principal of Heritage Christian Academy in north east Calgary. In an interview given before the claim was filed at Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, Wiebe said that joining the Palliser district is a ‘done deal’ and will give them access to a pool of public funds, opening doors to families who want a Christian education for their children.

“It’s a great paradox – we can be both Christian and public. We have a foot in both worlds,” said Wiebe. “We can drop our tuition by 50 percent, and that’s good news for Christian families.”

Menno Simons Christian School, a member of the Mennonite Educational Society of Calgary, has also opted to join the Palliser District, which includes schools in towns such as Vulcan, Champion and Picture Butte in Southern Alberta. In a letter to parents last June, board chairman Gerald Enns said the decision by the society and the regional board was unanimous. He assured parents that the emphasis of a Christian-based education for students would not change. Parents have already been told that student fees will drop by as much as 44 percent for school-age children, making the maximum yearly fee for a family $5,000.

A similar issue has arisen between the school board in Red Deer and neighboring Chinook’s Edge School division. According to Duane Plantinga, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta, about a dozen independent schools have been adopted by public boards in Alberta. School districts already operate outside their boundaries when students take distance education. However, this is the first known case of legal action taking place between school boards in the province.

Dirks told the Calgary Herald that it appears that the Palliser district is saying by their actions that geographic boundaries really don’t mean anything.

“Then there would be no restrictions on where school boards could operate essentially, and that clearly changes the definition of what a school board is and what authorities they are,” Dirks continued. “Clarifying this issue is important for all school boards in Alberta.”