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Education act unlikely to be part of fall session

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With the announcement this week of a shorter than expected legislative session, the province’s education act will likely remain unchanged until at least next year.

A comprehensive review of the province’s school act has been underway and a new education act was introduced into the legislature earlier this year.

Government house leader Dave Hancock announced the legislature would sit for just ten days this fall, with a two-day session next week, followed by a two-week sitting at the end of November.

Hancock did not specify what bills would be part of the fall session, but he conceded the education act would be tough to deal with if there are many other issues on the order paper.

“It is a big act and in a short session if there are other priorities it is unlikely we will get to it.”

The proposed act would give school boards a little more freedom in how they run the board. They would have the discretion to close schools and hire a superintendent without the involvement of the minister.

While giving boards the new powers, it also puts an emphasis on community engagement about those changes, requiring boards to consult with the community on a lot of moves.

It also gives boards powers to suspend and expel students for bullying, taking into account cases of cyber bullying that might not happen inside school walls.

While not included, an earlier draft of the legislation did give the minister power to flip the public and separate school boards. This could apply to St. Albert where Catholics are now the minority faith, but the public board is still a Catholic one.

Hancock said if the bill isn’t implemented this fall it can easily wait until the spring session.

“We have an excellent education system in this province. There is nothing there that says it is so urgent that it has to be done now.”

Local MLA Ken Allred said he doesn’t anticipate the act being passed in the fall session. He said it needs careful consideration and can’t be rushed through if it is going to cover the important issues.

He said there is also a possibility the new act could address the secular school issue.

Greater St. Albert Catholic Regional Division trustee Jacquie Hansen, who is also president of the Alberta School Boards’ Association, said she is waiting to see if the act will get a hearing.

She said new education minister Thomas Lukaszuk has asked school boards for their comments on the act and has asked for them quickly, but she is also unsure if the act will end up in the legislature this fall.

Hansen said a delay would not be monumental, but she is worried about what might happen next.

“It is not the end of the world that it is going to go until spring, but what will be problematic is if there is a spring election,” she said. “If there is an election it will have to be reintroduced with a whole now set of players.”

She said generally the act is good for school boards and they are looking forward to it.

“It is more enabling and it allows for more autonomy and broader decision making than the other act, so it is not so full of restrictions.”

She said their only concern is how the act will be interpreted, which they can’t know until it passes the legislature.

Opposition unimpressed

NDP house leader Rachel Notley said she doesn’t believe there will be enough time in the government’s short session to review such an important bill.

“Four weeks is hardly an extended period of time to have a conversation about an act, which has not been amended to this level for decades.”

Liberal house leader Laurie Blakeman said years of work have gone into the education act and she pressed that the government should get it done quickly.

“A lot of people poured a lot of time into that and they expected something from that and I am sure they will be disappointed, more than disappointed, if they find out that it has been delayed.”