Resident questions why BSD is funding Catholic school

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/10/2023 (1130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon woman is asking why St. Augustine’s Catholic school receives funding through the public school system when she says it should be classified as a private school.

It’s just one question that Heather Gillander asked trustees with the Brandon School Division during its regular meeting on Sept. 25, and again on Monday night.

“I’m concerned that the discriminatory philosophy and actions of the Roman Catholic Church are inconsistent with the values of the Brandon School Division, and cause challenges and problems for our students,” Gillander said.

Gillander’s thought process began in the spring, she said, after hearing the request made to trustees by a former trustee to create a committee that would review and ban books with LGBTQ+ content.

The proposal was ultimately voted down after a six-hour school board meeting held in Vincent Massey’s gymnasium on May 24. But there was one presenter that made Gillander take notice.

“He kept talking about people being groomed by reading books, and I got very upset about that because you can’t get groomed by reading a book. Grooming happens when there’s an imbalance of power,” Gillander said.

St. Augustine’s is one of 24 schools that are part of the Brandon School Division.

According to an agreement that was signed in 1968, three Catholic schools were integrated into the public-school program: Sacred Heart, St. Michael’s and St. Augustine’s.

Two have since closed, with St. Augustine’s still operating as a public school.

When part of the agreement was read out loud Monday evening, Gillander said her concern was realized that the values are different between the Catholic school and the school division.

“In the agreement, the Catholic school agrees to abide by the policies and procedures of the school division. And one of the policies and procedures includes the value statement no discrimination on the basis of gender, on the basis of sexual orientation, or on the basis of gender identity. And they’re not,” Gillander said.

The agreement was recently ratified in 2019. Linda Ross, chair of the school division’s board of trustees, said she was one of those who signed it.

“I think the reason this has come to light is the group of people who are in favour of banning certain books and who are not particularly positive towards the LGBTQIA community, they are not formal representatives of St. Augustine, but many of them are affiliated with St. Augustine’s.

“And that’s why I think it’s important that the board have a discussion with people from St. Augustine’s and with the Archdiocese,” Ross said.

In Manitoba, public schools are funded 100 per cent by taxpayers’ dollars, while private schools only receive 50 per cent of public funding.

On Monday night, trustee Jim Murray had a question of his own, asking why St. Augustine’s is funded differently than Christian Heritage in Brandon, or St. John’s Ravenscourt [in Winnipeg]. Both are private schools.

During Gillander’s final presentation Monday night, she asked why St. Augustine’s is not an independent school.

“My question was directly to the board, are you willing to renegotiate the relationship so that they’re no longer a public school, but a private school? Why are we publicly funding those attitudes?” Gillander said.

There is no expiration date on the agreement that was ratified four years ago between St. Augustine’s and the school board — an arrangement that has been in place for 55 years, said Ross.

“We as a board need some discussion, but certainly at this point we need to have a meeting with some representation from the Catholic Church,” Ross said. There is no particular end date on the agreement, it is just something that we would review periodically.

“And it would seem that given the current state of events that this might be a time to have a review, or at least have a conversation.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» X: @enviromichele