The Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta has leant its support to Morinville parents looking for a secular education option for students.
Currently, Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, the public division for that area — does not have such an alternative in place.
The letter from the school boards’ association, dated April 21, does not specify exactly what its support might entail, but Morinville parent Donna Hunter has long been looking to that organization for information to aid in her research, and she is happy to have that relationship continue.
Hunter called the organization, made up of public school boards from across the province, a great resource.
She is also happy by who made this motion to at the organization’s last meeting.
Joan Trettler, chair of the St. Albert Protestant Schools board of trustees, which is technically a separate school division and yet also a member of this organization, suggested it was a situation worth watching. It meets the organization’s mandate, she said.
“That association stands up for public education,” Trettler said. “[It] stands up for that whole concept of having a system that is there for everybody, and provides them with an outstanding education [rather than] just one particular group of people.”
Hunter was pleased that it was the Protestant division that made the motion to support the issue.
“For them to come out and make that gesture, and back us, it really means a lot to us, because we sort of felt alone for a long time.”
Despite the show of support from the school boards’ association, Trettler said she does not feel there can be any quick and easy fix for this situation.
Greater St. Albert Catholic is in the process of coming up with a fix of some sort. It is in the process of conducting a sample survey to gauge interest in a secular education program, and is in talks with other school divisions about possibly delivering the program.
