The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Olive Elliott

Special to The ATA News

When the Strathcona Christian Academy, one of the largest private schools in Alberta, joined Elk Island Public Schools this summer, the move represented a recent and dramatic change in the attitude of public school officials.

Even a few years ago, public school boards and administrators firmly believed that Christian-based programs had no place in their schools. The Strathcona Christian Academy, located in Sherwood Park near Edmonton, knows all about those old attitudes—it ran into them twice in the past.

The Academy was established by the Sherwood Park Alliance Church as a private school in 1980 only because the County of Strathcona public school system (now part of the Elk Island district) refused to accept it as an alternative program. In 1990, a second attempt to join the public school system also failed.

"We never wanted to be a separate school," says Jim Seutter, the Academy's principal and its former superintendent. "From the beginning, we wanted to be part of the mainstream."

Before long, other private schools might also be moving into the mainstream. Edmonton Public Schools has been talking to three Christian schools that have expressed interest in joining the district as alternative programs. As well, Gary Duthler, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges in Alberta, says Christian schools elsewhere in the province have been approached by public school districts interested in agreements similar to the Academy-Elk Island one. So far, nothing definite has come of these approaches, but Duthler finds it surprising that they were made at all. He has become accustomed to hearing public school officials describe independent schools as undemocratic and divisive—even as "religious ghettos."

So why the change?

As with so much in education these days, the provincial government has much to do with it. Since the 1988 School Act and, especially, the 1994 amendments that implemented Alberta Education's restructuring plan, the emphasis has been on providing educational choice. In part, the government seems to have reacted to a growing dissatisfaction with public education on the part of some parents.

School boards are not unaware of that dissatisfaction. As they adapt, there has been a proliferation of alternative programs offering everything from sports to an all-girls' school. The religion-based Logos program has grown rapidly. It is now offered in seven Edmonton Public schools and became available in Elk Island this year. Acquiring entire Christian schools seems a logical progression.

Elk Island Trustee Lois Byers, who was chair in June when the board agreed to accept the Academy, says her board's decision was partly a result of the changes to the School Act. "But," she adds, "I think the Private Schools Funding Task Force had a lot of do with it. That made us really think about our philosophies."

The Private Schools Funding Task Force was set up by the province in response to a push for greater funding for private schools. Though public schools were opposed, private schools were pleading for more funding and to be recognized as, in Duthler's words, "bona fide education institutions operating in the public interests alongside the public and separate schools."

Byers says: "That made us ask ourselves why they didn't want to be part of public education . . . It made us examine what public education should be and how it could serve the children who were not part of it."

Still convinced that all children are best served by public education, the Elk Island Board, in December 1997, adopted a policy for alternative programming based on a commitment to comprehensive public education and the provision of choice within the system. The Strathcona Christian Academy, which follows the Alberta curriculum and has always hired certificated teachers, met all policy requirements.

Seutter emphasizes that the Strathcona Christian Academy school did not sacrifice its principles to become part of the mainstream—and while he acknowledges that the Academy benefits financially, he is equally emphatic that money wasn't the primary consideration. Rather, he says, it was the opportunity for staff and students to become part of a larger education community. Before, Academy teachers felt almost as if they were "second-class citizens." Now, "we have full membership in our professional association."

In addition to gaining the professional and economic benefits of ATA membership, Academy teachers are more involved with their colleagues at other Elk Island schools. There are other advantages, too. Although the Academy is a large school—752 students in K–12—it didn't have the resources of a large district. Joining the district has given it access to central office services and expertise in areas such as special education.

Nevertheless, there's no doubt that having full public funding has made a significant difference. Last year, parents paid $3,700 in tuition fees for their first child. (The fee was scaled for parents with more than one child.) This year, parents pay $699 per child.

As a public school, the Academy can't charge for basic instruction. The fee is therefore earmarked for specific non-instructional purposes, including $100 for Christian programming and $300 for capital improvements. (Because the school is owned by the church and leased to the district, Alberta Education considers it ineligible for both new construction and restoration funding.) This non-instructional fee is higher than at most public schools, but Seutter hopes it can be reduced as prior commitments made by the Academy are met.

Parents of about 640 students who use the bus system, still owned and operated by the Academy, also pay an annual transportation fee of $280 per child. Previously, transportation was included in the tuition fee.

There are controversial aspects to the agreement between the Academy and Elk Island. The school has open enrolment; however, parents must agree to accept its Christian emphasis. Staff must agree to abide by "Biblical standards" of ethical, moral and religious behavior. Neither Seutter nor Byers believes the conditions will cause major problems. They acknowledge that difficulties with staffing might arise, but as Byers says, "other schools run into staffing problems, too. I don't see any increased risks here."

Byers compares the Academy's religious requirements to the qualifications expected in other specialized areas—a French-language program, for instance.

The executive director of the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges isn't so confident. Duthler suggests the possibility of human rights or labor law contraventions if a staff member were to be removed because of a lifestyle issue or if an applicant were denied a teaching position because he or she defined Biblical standards differently than the Alliance Church. He also wonders what would happen if a parent wanted to put a child in the Academy, but refused to commit to its Christian values.

As well, he points out that, while this year the Alliance Church society is serving as the school council, next year's

council will be elected from among all parents. Duthler fears that there could be a gradual eroding of the principles on which the Academy is based. Therefore, while his association "fully supports any initiative that increases parental choice and moves us all closer to equitable funding," it also advises schools "to consider overtures for alternative status with caution."

Olive Elliott is a freelance writer with a special interest in local government and education.