Catholic school authorities in the Canadian diocese of Edmonton have
voted to abolish gambling activities as a source of school funding.
But board chair Debbie Engel says casino revenues will still be used
in Catholic schools while the board looks for alternative and
sustainable options for the district, which serves the city of Edmonton
with publicly funded Catholic education, CNS reports.
Trustees adopted the position that “no school or school community in
Alberta should have to raise money through gambling activities in order
to meet children’s educational needs.”
The board has been dealing with the issue since the fall when the
Archdiocese of Edmonton implemented new policy guidelines that forbid
Catholic groups to raise money through “harmful gambling activities.”
The archdiocesan chancellor, Father Gregory Bittman, said the
archdiocese recognizes that the school district needs time “to make
fundamental changes.
However, we believe that fundraising without
casinos is an attainable goal.”
Catholic schools in the city earn about $6 million through casino
fundraising every 18 months.
All but one of the 87 schools take part in
the practice.
They use the money to pay for school field trips, hot
lunch programs, equipment and other extras.
Engel said the issue is one of social justice and educational
equality.
While larger schools in more affluent areas can afford to pay
for extras, smaller schools cannot.
The board plans to look at a number of options, including lobbying
the Alberta government for changes in how revenue is distributed, so
parents do not have to work at casinos.
“We would like to lobby the provincial government to find out exactly
how much money is coming into public education from casinos and
allocate it evenly on a need basis throughout the province for adequate,
sustainable funding for education,” Engel said.
“We are not asking the government to come up with more money. We are
asking the government to take the money and put it into general revenues
and distribute it on an equitable basis so schools can have adequate,
predictable funding,” she added.
Until that happens, schools will likely continue to rely on casino revenues.