A successful conclusion to a national court case has allowed a Catholic organization to distribute the remaining legal funds to its eight school division partners, including Holy Trinity in Moose Jaw.
The Supreme Court of Canada issued a decision on Feb. 25 that rejected Good Spirit School Division’s application for leave to appeal the Theodore case, which dealt with whether Catholic school divisions should receive funding for non-Catholic students.
Good Spirit, based in Yorkton, was the applicant, while the provincial government and Christ the Teacher Roman Catholic School Division were the respondents.
The decision ended a 16-year legal battle between the two school divisions and their predecessors.
The Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association raised $340,000 —and spent roughly $302,000 — to support its case at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, and later, to the Supreme Court of Canada. Raising this funding via donors, supporters and families ensured that money did not come from classrooms.
With the court case finished, the organization decided to distribute the remaining funds to its member school divisions. Holy Trinity received $14,335.23 based on 2,301 students as of Sept. 30, 2020 and $6.23 per student.
Of this funding, Vanier Collegiate received $2,529.38, St. Michael received $1,962.45, St. Mary received $784.98, St. Margaret received $1,302.07, St. Agnes received $2,093.28, Sacred Heart was given $1,663.41, Phoenix Academy got $429.87, home-based students received $18.69, Christ the King in Shaunavon received $485.94, and All Saints in Swift Current got $3,065.16.
“That’s obviously a good news story for us in Catholic education and divisions in the province,” Sean Chase, director of education for Holy Trinity, said. “Our families were the ones who raised those dollars. Holy Trinity was very adamant that any of the legal fees incurred in that (legal case), we would not take out of provincial operational dollars.”
The money sent to each school will likely be used to help celebrate Catholic Education Week from May 9 to 16, he added. That is a yearly week celebrated across the world focusing on liturgy, the Catholic faith, and having fun with students.
Upgrading infrastructure
Buildings throughout Holy Trinity Catholic School Division recently received some infrastructure upgrades.
Every building now has new air purification systems that are fully operational, while five schools have received LED light upgrades, a board report explained.
Annual cost savings from the light upgrades are expected to be $26,000 with a payback period of 6.1 years. Furthermore, energy savings are expected to be 93,155 kilowatt-hours per year. This is equivalent to removing the emissions of 8.5 Canadian vehicles every year.
These building enhancements were part of phase 2 of the federal Climate Action Incentive Fund (CAIF). Funding for these projects was contingent upon what the federal government presented in its April 19 budget.
Even though division administration is unsure whether CAIF money will be distributed to schools, this is still a good news story since the LED upgrades will save the division money on its utilities, said Chase. It will also lead to an impressive reduction in schools’ environmental footprints and how they operate.
The next board of education meeting is on Monday, May 10.
