Trustees approve new agreements for St. Augustine School

Trustees with the Brandon School Division approved a pair of motions Monday night related to agreements involving St. Augustine School after two years of discussions and negotiations.

The first motion adopted an agreement governing education programming at St. Augustine School to align school operations more closely with the Public Schools Act, particularly around religious instruction and exercises.

The second motion approved a five-year lease agreement for the division’s use of space at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church for $50,000 annually, plus utilities, property taxes and other applicable taxes.

The Brandon Catholic School Board and the Roman Catholic Archiepiscopal Corporation were also parties to the agreements.

The first motion, moved by trustee Kim Fallis, was passed with seven trustees voting in favour, trustee Lorraine McConnell opposed and trustee Calistus Ekenna absent from the meeting.

McConnell requested that her vote be recorded and said she could not support the agreement because of concerns related to the Public Schools Act and the non-sectarian nature of public education.

“Although I am aware of the many challenges regarding classroom space available to accommodate all the children in the division, I cannot in good conscience vote in favour of this motion and uphold my responsibility to follow the Public Schools Act,” McConnell said.

She said the act requires public schools to remain non-sectarian and argued she was not convinced the building or its environment met that definition. McConnell also raised concerns about public perception of St. Augustine as a Catholic school rather than a public school and questioned whether it was equally accessible and inclusive to all children as another school in the same area.

McConnell said that she had previously urged the board to create a five-year plan to reduce reliance on space owned by the organization.

“I think we could do better for the families in Brandon School Division,” she said.

Vice-chair Duncan Ross, who defended the agreement, said the division has operated in partnership with St. Augustine Church since 1968, with the church owning the building and the division providing staffing, policies and programming.

Ross said concerns were raised about two years ago that the agreement and practices at the school did not fully align with provisions in the Public Schools Act dealing with religious instruction and exercises.

He said representatives from the Brandon School Division and the Brandon Catholic School Board met multiple times to find a solution that would preserve classroom space for about 200 students while also complying with provincial legislation.

“The results of those two years of discussion are these two agreements tonight,” Ross said.

Ross acknowledged McConnell’s concerns, calling the issue complicated and involving differing interpretations of the legislation. However, he said he ultimately supported the agreements because of the need to maintain classroom space for students.

“I have erred on the side of having classrooms for these 200 kids and not sending them to other schools where they don’t know the other kids, where there isn’t room for them, where they may end up being taught in a gym or a hallway,” he said.

Board chair Linda Ross said the revised agreement includes significant changes that bring the arrangement more closely in line with the Public Schools Act.

“It has been two years of meetings and negotiations, and the changes that have been made in the agreement between St. Augustine’s and BSD are such that we’re closely aligned with the requirements of the Public Schools Act,” she told the board.

“St. Augustine’s has made many changes, and I commend them for that.”

In the past, families of St. Augustine Church had preferential access to registration at the school, and that is no longer the case, and changes have been made so that religious instruction and exercises are in accordance with the Public Schools Act, she said.

Trustee Breeanna Sieklicki also supported the agreement, saying it benefits all parties involved and follows the act.

McConnell later clarified that her objections were not directed at other trustees, but rather at what she viewed as shortcomings in the agreement itself.

“I think we could have done more,” she said. “There are still areas that could be improved.”

Trustees also voted on a second motion approving a five-year lease agreement between the division and the Brandon Catholic School Board for the use of space at St. Augustine School.

The motion was moved by Sieklicki and seconded by trustee Kirk Carr. It passed with all trustees present voting in favour except McConnell and Carr.

Carr said he seconded the motion to allow discussion but ultimately could not support it.

“I have a hard time agreeing to this,” he said, while declining to elaborate further because of concerns about discussing matters considered in camera.

McConnell, who again requested that her vote be recorded, said she did not believe the division should enter into a third-party education agreement with a landlord.

“We already have an agreement about education with the Province of Manitoba, and therefore with the taxpayers of Brandon School Division,” she said.

Duncan Ross said that the second agreement separates the lease arrangement from the educational agreement, something he said was recommended during the legal review process.

He said the previous arrangement did not require the division to pay rent, but the division could have been responsible for major repairs to a building it does not own. Ross said the province made it clear it would not cover large capital expenses for the facility.

Under the new agreement, the division will instead pay annual rent calculated using the same formula applied to daycare spaces operating in division schools. Ross said the funds would help create reserves for future building repairs and maintenance projects.

“That’s really the meat of the agreement,” he said.

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