Trustee wants public board to push for unified system
The Edmonton public school board should advocate for one publicly funded school system in Alberta, says one of its trustees.
Alberta should hold a referendum on the issue during the expected 2019 provincial election, Nathan Ip, who represents southwest Edmonton on the school board, said Friday.
He’s contemplating bringing forward a motion in this vein for his board colleagues to vote on.
“Our institutions are meant to evolve. What was acceptable 50 years ago would not be now,” Ip said.
Last year, Red Deer’s public school board approved a motion to advocate for one public system.
Albertans should have a conversation about whether it’s “fair and just” that one branch of Christianity — Catholicism — should have a publicly funded school system when other religions do not, Ip said.
Education Minister David Eggen has already ruled out a referendum on the issue.
The Alberta Act grants Catholics a constitutional right to establish a separate school board to operate Catholic schools.
A recent clash between Edmonton’s public and Catholic boards over a stalled joint student busing deal has catalyzed Ip’s sense of urgency.
Edmonton Catholic board chairman Terry Harris said earlier this week a lack of respect from some public trustees was preventing his board from creating a joint student transportation authority.
A 2014 study prepared by both districts found it could shorten student ride times and save about $2.5 million a year.
Eggen has the power to require school boards to enter into a joint transportation agreement. Although he hasn’t ruled that out in Edmonton, he hopes the boards can strike an agreement on their own.
Harris has said the Catholic board is open to sharing more buses with Edmonton public beyond the current 11 routes.
“We’ve tried to play nice,” Ip said. “We’ve tried to get them to the table. Nothing has worked.”
Ip said fostering debate on the structure of the education system is a worthy use of trustee time because it directly affects how much money is available for school staff, programs and construction.
A single Edmonton school board could use space and run programs more efficiently, he said. A joint district could also offer Catholic programs, said Ip.
Neither the Edmonton Catholic board nor the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA) responded to a request for comment on Friday.
It is an “oversimplification” to say combining the Catholic and public school systems would save much money, ACSTA president Adriana LaGrange wrote in an oped piece last year, as a new entity would still need to educate, transport and accommodate the same number of students.