The Alberta government's release of guidelines to help school boards set their own mandatory LGBTQ policies are being taken “into consideration” by Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools as it moves forward to complete its own mandatory policy before a March 31 deadline.
“After reviewing the best practices and considering our own policies and administrative procedures, our current policies, with some minor revisions, will be in line with the best practices they are suggesting,” said Paul Mason, superintendent of schools for the regional Catholic school board.
“In reviewing the guidelines, the attempt is to create safe and caring environments for all students. We want to be inclusive of all students.”
He emphasized his board's administrative procedures and policies as they relate to creating safe and caring environments for students have been in place for “well over 10 years” and that they come up for annual review and revision if necessary.
“We will consider what the best practices have to share and look to adjust our policies and admin procedures accordingly or if necessary,” he said.
On Jan. 13, Education Minister David Eggen released the provincial government's 21-page best practices report to guide Alberta's 61 school boards across the province as they develop their own policies to respect sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expression in schools.
The provincial guidelines include ensuring students have the right to be addressed by their chosen name and pronoun, the right to dress in a way that is consistent with their gender identity or gender expression, and having the right to use the washroom and change room that aligns with their gender identity.
As well, another policy from the government's best practices report also states all school staff should be protected from discrimination regardless of gender identity and expression and sexual orientation.
“We will take the government's suggested guidelines into consideration and once again look…to help them fulfill their potential,” said Mason of the province's guidelines, which are not binding on school boards.
While there was some strong support for the province's guidelines on the issue, notably from the Edmonton Catholic School Board, there was also immediate condemnation from Bishop Fred Henry, the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary.
In a letter posted on the Catholic diocese website on Jan. 14, Henry called the government guidelines “a totalitarian approach” that must be rejected, adding there was “no evidence of consultation with or sensitivity to the Catholic community.
“This approach and directive smack of the madness of relativism and the forceful imposition of a particular narrow-minded anti-Catholic ideology,” wrote Henry.
Mason said the school board reviewed Henry's comments, adding there is “respect” for his point of view and that board officials would take his opinions “into consideration …where respect, compassion and sensitivity for all students is exhibited and where students are not subject to discrimination.”
In the meantime, Mason said the school board's ongoing work to develop its own policy has generated “quite a bit” of attention and conversation among parents and students.
“Of course everybody wants to be responsive to the needs of students and create an environment where they can be successful, and we believe those conversations are appropriate,” he said.
“When it comes to the development of policy and admin procedures, do we consider feedback from parents, students and administrators and from the church? All of those stakeholder groups and their perspectives are reviewed in the development of policies and admin procedures.”
Mason added that while feedback has been welcomed there has been no strategic consultative process on the issue.
"We will take the government's suggested guidelines into consideration and once again look to create safe and caring environments for all of our students, to help them fulfill their potential."Paul Masonsuperintendent
