Seven Hutterite colony schools go private

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This article was published 19/05/2023 (844 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — More than a half-dozen Hutterite colonies shed their public school statuses, gave up taxpayer support and became non-funded institutions with limited government oversight last year.

Manitoba Education’s newly released enrolment report shows public school registrations continue to rebound in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, while private academies grow at a steady pace.

The 41-page document also sheds light on a growing trend in Hutterite country.

A single colony converted its school in 2021. Last year, seven additional Christian Anabaptist communal communities followed suit and turned their public schools into private academies.

“During the pandemic, many colony schools felt misrepresented and mandated to restrictions that didn’t apply to them,” said one teacher who works and lives on a colony located in southwestern Manitoba.

Those tensions and the rising popularity of a particular evangelical curriculum by Christian Light appear to be shaping the education landscape, said the educator, who asked the Winnipeg Free Press to protect their identity.

Non-funded private schools are not required to employ certified teachers or deliver the provincial curriculum, although their chosen syllabus must be approved by the education department.

These schools are eligible for $60 per student to cover curricular materials.

Riverside, Concord, Beaver Creek and Sommerfield colonies have recently cut ties with their local divisions: Beautiful Plains, Interlake, Pine Creek and Portage la Prairie, respectively.

The Prairie Rose School Division has lost three K-12 buildings, between Huron, Maxwell and Starlite colonies.

Beautiful Plains superintendent Jason Young said he was uncertain of the reason why Riverside Colony chose to go independent. “We still have seven colonies in our division who have given no indication that they plan to follow Riverside,” the division leader added in an email.

When reached by phone Thursday, a U.S. representative for Christian Light confirmed their syllabus has been gaining momentum across Manitoba and among Hutterites.

The international organization, whose slogan is “God’s Truth Equipping God’s People to Do God’s Work,” declined to disclose further information about its involvement on the Canadian Prairies.

A government spokesperson indicated updating a colony’s school status typically involves a community leader advising the local division about their intent to leave, a site visit undertaken by a department staffer to support the transition, and the returning of public school items and equipment.

Manitoba’s non-funded schools grew by 10.6 per cent overall last year. Partially funded private schools saw enrolment rise by 3.4 per cent.

Public school divisions — which are attended by 90 per cent of all kindergarten to Grade 12 students in the province — recorded a net increase of 3.1 per cent on Sept. 29, 2022, compared to one year prior.

River East Transcona, Louis Riel, Pembina Trails, Hanover, and Garden Valley have welcomed the largest numbers of new students this year.

Homeschooling figures have been dropping since the province recorded record-breaking enrolment (8,027 students learning at home) in 2020-21. At the time, many families temporarily pulled their children from traditional classrooms both to limit close contacts and protest pandemic protocols.

The number of students being homeschooled spiked 117.6 per cent between 2019 and 2020.

Enrolment dropped by 23.4 per cent the following year, and another 24.7 per cent this fall.

Roughly 1,000 more students are enrolled in homeschools today than they were before the first COVID-19 case was detected in Manitoba.

» Winnipeg Free Press