Catholic board raising funds for court battle

The Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association (SCSBA) is ramping up its $300,000 fundraiser to pay for an appeal of a Court of Queen’s Bench decision that would change Catholic education funding in the province.

The specifics of the fundraising activities are up to the eight individual Catholic school divisions, said Tom Fortosky, spokesman for the SCSBA (also known as the Saskatchewan School Boards Association Catholic section).

The campaign, which has been ongoing since June, had raised $19,354 as of Tuesday.

The SCSBA has set a deadline of Jan. 31 to raise the $300,000 needed to cover legal costs for the mid-2018 Saskatchewan Court of Appeal hearing, the likely Supreme Court of Canada appeal to follow, and an application by the public school board group to recoup legal costs.

That works out to about $7 per student.

The fundraising drive stems from a bid to overturn an April 20 decision by Justice Donald Layh that concluded non-Catholic students shouldn’t be publicly funded to attend Catholic schools. It arose out of a dispute over a Catholic school in Theodore, about 200 kilometres northeast of Regina.

Reacting to the threatened closing Theodore’s public school in 2003, the community petitioned the government to form a Catholic school division to govern the school. That year, 13 of the school’s 42 students, 31 per cent, were Catholic. In years since, the number hasn’t climbed higher than 39 per cent.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s two biggest Catholic school divisions are getting more creative than just billing their students.

In the Regina Catholic School Division, school community council chairs met Thursday night and a meeting with principals is scheduled for Nov. 27.

“We’ll be looking for some suggestions, some strategies, some ideas … (for) things they can do locally at the school,” said director of education Domenic Scuglia.

The division’s schools are well versed in clever fundraising ideas.

At Riffel High School, for the annual food bank fundraiser, students have volunteered to shave their heads and wear embarrassing clothes as incentives for collecting thousands of pounds of food.

At St. Francis School last fall, the principal was duct-taped to a wall after reaching a playground fundraising goal.

“Somebody at one of our meetings came up with the funny idea that I would go in a dunk tank,” said Scuglia.

“I’m ready to go in a dunk tank if that’s what it takes.”

In Saskatoon, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools board chair Diane Boyko agreed there are options for raising their share of $140,000.

Students might “decide to have a fun day or a portion of their Advent services” put to the fundraiser, said Boyko.

“Christmas is just around corner, so there will be opportunities for conversation in that capacity, as well.”

Though schools seem to be constantly fundraising for one thing or another, Scuglia and Boyko aren’t worried about overextending their communities.

“I think they’ll find it in their hearts to expand upon all of the good work that they’re already doing,” said Boyko.

“We’re hoping people see the urgency,” said Scuglia. “We need to help our stakeholders understand what’s at stake here and that Catholic education is being questioned, so we need to stress the importance.”

As it stands, non-Catholic students are fully funded to attend Catholic schools in Saskatchewan. Layh’s decision would change all that effective June 2018.

Layh ruled that funding nonminority-faith students to attend separate schools violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The provincial government introduced a bill on Nov. 8 to invoke the notwithstanding clause and maintain the status quo. Section 33 of the Charter permits overriding those sections.

The notwithstanding clause expires after five years. The government has said it will continue to renew the clause if necessary.

As of Sept. 30, 2016, 23 per cent of Saskatchewan students attended a Catholic school.

Norm Dray, executive director of Public Schools of Saskatchewan, said the public division has no intention of launching a fundraiser.

The public side has paid about $3 million in legal fees since the case began in 2004; the Catholic side has paid about $1.36 million.

“We believe in Catholic education for Catholic students,” said Dray. “It’s guaranteed in the constitution, and we have no problem with that. But a judge has ruled that the government can’t fund non-Catholic students to attend Catholic schools and we believe in the rule of law.”

“Catholic schools have always been open to people who are nonCatholic. … It’s part of our makeup and we believe in parental choice,” said Fortosky.

Somebody at one of our meetings came up with the funny idea that I would go in a dunk tank. I’m ready to go in a dunk tank if that’s what it takes.