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Separate school public meeting leaves some frustrated

Catholics living in the designated historical boundary can vote in the church basement June 24 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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St. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church in Athabasca hosted a public meeting June 9 ahead of the June 24 vote that may see a separate school come to the town. Heather Stocking
ATHABASCA – There were a lot of questions at a public meeting last week regarding a potential separate school system in Athabasca, but there was also one question that came up again and again — how is this process fair?

Last September, a notice of intent to establish a separate school district was filed with Alberta Education and a census within the historical boundary of Athabasca School District #839 was completed in February. Based on that census, at least 59 Catholics living within that historical boundary must show up to the polls for a quorum, and 29 of them must vote in favour for the request to pass. 

The census was used to determine the minimum number who must vote so, if 100 Catholics living in the historical boundary show up at the polls, 51 must vote in favour of the separate school proposal at the vote scheduled June 24 at St. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church. 

Many of the 150 people in attendance at the June 9 meeting at the same church, whether in person or via Zoom, had the same concerns if the proposal goes through — How will it impact the public school system? And why are so few granted the opportunity to impact the education of so many others? 

No one could identify exactly how a successful proposal would impact Aspen View Public Schools, as it depends on the number of students moving from the public to separate system. 

“This process is through a constitutional right of the minority faith electors and so certainly from Alberta Education's perspective, whether it goes through, whether it doesn't go through, we're neutral on that. But we want to make sure that the process is properly followed,” explained Richard Arnold, who was appointed by Education Minister Adriana LaGrange to facilitate the meeting.

For three-and-a-half hours, Arnold fielded similar questions from attendees, while others questioned why the meeting was being held during a pandemic at all.

The census is valid for one year and Lakeland Separate School District Supt. Joe Arruda said at the beginning of the meeting that if successful, a Catholic school could be opened by the fall of 2021. 

“The Catholic electors chose to move forward with this process and focus on this review so it gives us lots of time to have a really good school in place. The parents have been waiting for this since February of last year,” Arruda said. 

He added that the provincial election also slowed down the process as the incoming government said the School Act would be replaced by the Education Act and then after the census, the pandemic hit. 

“Once (the Education Act) was passed, we did our census and we were ready to have our meeting in February. Of course, we couldn’t because of COVID-19 and we have no guarantees there won’t be a second wave of COVID-19 in August or September or October and this may very well be the very best opportunity for community engagement,” Arruda said. 

The questions kept coming back to legitimacy of the process when only 59 people will have the ability to potentially impact hundreds of students in and around the Athabasca area, but Arnold reiterated multiple times that it is the constitutional right of any electorate to request minority faith-based education. 

“Basically, we believe that the school system in Athabasca can support two publicly funded systems,” Arruda said, mentioning that the system in Athabasca is bigger than that of Lac La Biche, where they have had a successful separate school for four years. 

“If the students come to us, even though the funding would come to us, so would the expenses. So, if we pick up 20 students it means we have to educate those 20 students. Aspen View may not get the funding, but they also don’t have the expense." 

Aspen View trustee board chair Candy Nikipelo was also in attendance at the church with Supt. Neil O’Shea. She said she heard a lot of frustration from county residents who felt excluded from having a say in the process. 

“I would say a good portion of the audience was county residents just frustrated with that part of the system, but that's a different fight. That's for them to get a hold of the government and try to get a change in legislation,” she said. 

Nikipelo said in an interview the day after the public meeting that Aspen View had contacted local Catholics to learn if they can do anything differently regarding religious instruction. 

“Aspen View had reached out. (Supt. Neil O’Shea) made a special trip to go to the bishop to ask if there's anything that we can do to work together. We talked to Bryan (Taylor) … to a couple of the petitioners … We came up against a brick wall,” she said. “They're not willing to have a discussion. If they truly wanted a partnership, they would have responded to the reaching out.” 

In a June 11 interview O’Shea said he felt the public meeting was polite and focused on the students and not on religion. 

“I thought the meeting was respectful. I thought it was focused on the right things, which is the kids and the future and the community,” he said. “I think a lot of people from the community came with a lot of really relevant questions and concerns and I think they presented themselves really well. And I think the biggest thing that came with this, to them it wasn't so much about religion as it was about fracturing the system. I didn't feel like there was an anti-Catholic or an anti-religion undertone to anything.” 

O’Shea did express disappointment that the meeting was held while public gathering restrictions are still in place. 

“When you drive down Athabasca, the stores aren't open, financially people are stressed, parents are tired from teaching their own children. There's depression, anxiety is huge, stress. So, I think I was disappointed that we proceeded with a meeting when we're already stretched as much as we are,” he said. 

Arruda did not return a request for comment on how the meeting went, but Bryan Taylor, who organized the letter of intent and is the designated elector contact said in a statement that he hoped voters turn out on June 24. 

“All I can say about the meeting was that there were certainly lots of questions from the public about getting a Catholic school in the community,” Taylor said. “We had about 40 (people) attend in person and about 100 through Zoom. All we can do now is hope that at least 59 (Catholics) turn out and vote June 24 so we at least have quorum; of course, we always hope for a lot more. At this point all I can do is paraphrase Shakespeare – It’s either to be, or not to be.” 

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