The results of a survey on support for secular schooling in Morinville are to be announced at a public meeting in the town Thursday evening.
On its website, the Greater St. Albert Catholic School Division invited area residents to the meetin at Morinville Community High School at 7 p.m. to “provide an update on future educational choices in Morinville.”
“The purpose is to really inform the community as to the interest in a non-faith-based education” in Morinville, said board chairwoman Lauri-Ann Turnbull.
There is no secular schooling for students in the town of about 8,000. The Catholic board, which has public school jurisdiction, operates Morinville’s four schools according to its Catholic mandate. The Catholic school system became the public board because the majority of residents at the time of its establishment were Catholic.
Last December, a group of parents, led by Donna Hunter, asked the board for a secular option. In January, that request was unanimously denied by the board, citing its mandate.
Since then, the board has met with parents, Education Minister Dave Hancock and other MLAs, and neighbouring school divisions to come to a solution.
Edmonton-based Pivotal Research Inc., an independent research firm, was contracted in April by the Catholic board to survey parents of all Morinville students. In addition, a random sampling of town residents were surveyed by phone. Those results will be presented Thursday.
The board will also reveal an “educational partner” that will be responsible for running a secular option.
“I believe there will be programming in September and that will be what the partner will speak to,” Turnbull said. “We’d encourage all members of the community to come and listen to the presentation and get all the details first-hand.”
Hunter moved from Morinville, where she lived for more than 10 years, to Edmonton this year because of uncertainty whether a program would be set up by the fall.
“The reason I moved was because there was nowhere for me to register my children within our resident public school board. We had to make the choice in March,” she said. “We had nowhere to register and we had no idea what it would look like. Now we’re in the city, our kids are registered for next year in Edmonton Public … but it should have never have come to that.”
Hunter said that while she’s angry and disappointed, she remains committed to following through on the issue.
“I’ve always maintained that we shouldn’t be outcasts of our school division,” she said. “I don’t want kids to feel ostracized from their friends or community or town. I would be upset if I found out the solution for the next school year is busing.
“And of course I’ll hope if the option is something else, that we’ll be provided a secular public option in town. I hope they have a plan.”
Comments