Latest news with #JanSawyer
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Edmonton school trustees, advocates want province to allow undocumented kids to enrol
Elementary students coats and boots are seen in a school in Edmonton on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi Edmonton public school trustees have voted to push Alberta's government to make legislative changes to allow undocumented kids to enrol in school and increase education funding accordingly. The unanimous vote Tuesday came after advocacy groups sent speakers and affected children to months of school board meetings to bring the issue to light. Thirteen-year-old Areana Capata was one such speaker. At a meeting last month, she told trustees that she has three siblings who haven't been able to attend school in two years. 'How will they go to college, get jobs they love, or even feel confident in themselves if they're constantly being denied the chance to grow up?' Capata told trustees. 'The worst part is it's not their fault. No child chooses to be undocumented.' Trustee Jan Sawyer said during Tuesday's meeting that it's critical the school division does 'everything it can' to ensure undocumented children get an education. 'That's why we're here, because we believe it's essential,' Sawyer said. Whitney Haynes, the executive director of the Alberta Workers Association for Research and Education, said in an interview her organization is working with nine children in the Edmonton area, though she knows more are out there. Haynes said not every situation is simple. She said Canadian residency status can be a fluctuating process and while some parents come to Canada through unofficial channels, there are other situations where parents with temporary work visas are between jobs or when a work permit expires. 'Once that expires, then they're undocumented,' Haynes said, adding that when a parent's permit expires, so does the mechanism that allows their kids to attend Alberta schools. 'These kids are often under threat in school, but they had never been kicked out in the past. Just recently (we) started seeing them being kicked out.' Haynes said Edmonton's Catholic school board has been more likely to kick students out for lapsed visa status, and her organization has been trying to work with the division but has been met with silence. Edmonton Catholic spokesperson Christine Meadows said in an email that it was aware of Tuesday's vote and that it's 'committed to welcoming all students to the fullest extent allowed by provincial legislation and policy.' Meadows said her division was pleased to see a motion to bring the advocacy item forward to the provincial school boards association also pass on Tuesday. 'It's important that school boards across the province have the opportunity to discuss complex issues like this one together,' she said. A report prepared for Tuesday's Edmonton Public School trustees meeting said besides wanting the division to advocate to the province, the division also received requests to implement a 'sanctuary policy' where schools could enrol undocumented children regardless of their residency status. It says under Alberta legislation that isn't possible, whereas Ontario's education laws actually require admission regardless of legal residency status. Alberta's Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides didn't answer emailed questions about if he plans to follow through on the request or if he'd meet with the trustees, but he said most foreign children are eligible for public education in the province. 'This includes children of temporary residents as well as families with refugee status, including those claiming refugee status after they have arrived,' Nicolaides said. 'As a rule, the only instance where a child's education would not be covered is if they were arriving as a tourist or visitor.' Nicolaides also said 'there is a difference between having a right to access education and a right for that education to be delivered free of charge.' Alberta's Education Act stipulates that only students who are legal residents of Alberta, and who have at least one parent that is a resident of Alberta, are eligible to receive a publicly funded education. However, non-Alberta resident children who are legal residents elsewhere in Canada can attend public schools in Edmonton — for a fee. 'Since the division does not receive per-student provincial funding for these ineligible students, the fee is required to help cover the cost of providing educational programming,' reads a report from earlier this month by Edmonton Public's superintendent of schools, Darrel Robertson. Robertson's report said the fee for the current school year is just over $10,000, and noted that two non-resident students from Nunavut were registered in Edmonton public schools this year. The report says there's also a fee, which is higher, for international students. The director of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, Renee Vaugeois, whose organization has been part of the advocacy campaign, said there wasn't a difference as Nicolaides described. 'Under the (United Nations) Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly all children, especially the primary school level up to Grade 12, have the right to education,' Vaugeois said, noting Alberta formally endorsed the convention in 1999. 'We've ratified that convention. That is international binding law but the Alberta Education Act is written in a way to exclude certain people.' Vaugeois said she was thrilled to see the Edmonton Public School trustees vote the way they did, but noted nothing is going to change unless Alberta's government gets on board. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025. Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Edmonton public school board wants Alberta to guarantee undocumented children a right to attend school
The Alberta government should change education law to ensure undocumented children have access to school in the province, Edmonton public school trustees say. Following pleas from advocates who say children are being denied an education in Edmonton, the board voted to ask Alberta's education minister to change the legal definition of a resident student in the province. "It doesn't matter what decisions their parents have made," Trustee Jan Sawyer said at a board meeting on Tuesday. "We have to do everything we can to see those kids are in school." Whitney Haynes, executive director of the Alberta Workers Association for Research and Education, advocates for precarious workers and undocumented families in the province. Hayne said a couple of years ago, a family approached her, saying their children had been removed from school after their immigration status changed. She said she now knows of nine children in Edmonton who were either refused entry to school or told to leave school because of their immigration status. Each case is different, she said. A family may have come to Canada under a student visa, claiming refugee status or as temporary foreign workers. If their claim to stay is denied, the family is left in limbo while they're appealing to federal agencies, which can take a long time, she said. Many are scared to return to their home country for fear of violence or poverty, she said. Haynes said education is a human right. She thinks Alberta's Education Act is discriminatory because it has a blind spot for undocumented children living in the province. At a school board meeting last month, families and advocates urged the school board to keep undocumented children learning. They pointed to other Canadian school boards, which have created sanctuary policies that pledge not to discriminate against students based on their immigration status, and resist sharing information with immigration authorities. Student Areana Capata, 13, told trustees on April 15 she has three siblings who haven't been able to attend school for two years, and she worries that she is next. Her siblings are denied the simple joys of making friends and learning, and Capata worries whether they will ever catch up with their learning. "We're not asking for special treatment," she said. "We're just asking for a chance." An administrative report to the school board says Ontario's Education Act requires schools to admit children, even if the child or their parent is illegally in Canada. B.C. law says students are eligible for school enrolment and public funding if they or their guardian owns or leases property, are employed, have a driver's licence or pay taxes. Administrators note that Alberta's law and school funding policies lack these provisions. Alberta's Education Act says schools can consider enrolling a non-resident student if there is space in a school, "resources" to accommodate them, and all resident students have been accommodated first. Boards also have the right to charge non-resident students tuition fees. Non-resident students are ineligible for provincial funding. Haynes said the school board could also choose to enrol undocumented students as "non-resident students" and charge a nominal fee for their attendance. Edmonton public currently charges international students $13,000 a year to attend one of its schools. Trustees want other boards to join advocacy Edmonton public trustees unanimously agreed on Tuesday to ask Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to propose Education Act amendments that allow school divisions to enrol undocumented students, and for the provincial government to fund their education. They also agreed to ask other school boards and organizations like the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) to join their advocacy efforts. In a statement on Tuesday, Edmonton Catholic Schools spokesperson Christine Meadows said access to education for undocumented students is a "complex and sensitive issue." She said the board will welcome students to the fullest extent allowed by provincial law. Meadows did not answer a question about whether that board has taken any steps to advocate for changes. An ASBA spokesperson said the organization, which has 65 member school boards in Alberta and Yellowknife, hasn't yet taken a position on undocumented students and doesn't know how many boards consider the issue a priority. In a statement sent Tuesday, Minister Nicolaides said funding schooling for children from outside Canada aims to balance fiscal responsibility and compassion. "Alberta's criteria for funding education for newcomers is intended to be open and generous, and most children are eligible for a funded education in the province," his statement said. He said the only instance a child wouldn't have funded education is when they arrive in Alberta as a tourist or visitor. Edmonton public school board chair Julie Kusiek said his response doesn't account for undocumented children. "That's the group of children that we want to advocate for at a provincial level to see the changes required so that they can receive the same kind of education as their peer down the street," she said.
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Edmonton public school board wants Alberta to guarantee undocumented children a right to attend school
The Alberta government should change education law to ensure undocumented children have access to school in the province, Edmonton public school trustees say. Following pleas from advocates who say children are being denied an education in Edmonton, the board voted to ask Alberta's education minister to change the legal definition of a resident student in the province. "It doesn't matter what decisions their parents have made," Trustee Jan Sawyer said at a board meeting on Tuesday. "We have to do everything we can to see those kids are in school." Whitney Haynes, executive director of the Alberta Workers Association for Research and Education, advocates for precarious workers and undocumented families in the province. Hayne said a couple of years ago, a family approached her, saying their children had been removed from school after their immigration status changed. She said she now knows of nine children in Edmonton who were either refused entry to school or told to leave school because of their immigration status. Each case is different, she said. A family may have come to Canada under a student visa, claiming refugee status or as temporary foreign workers. If their claim to stay is denied, the family is left in limbo while they're appealing to federal agencies, which can take a long time, she said. Many are scared to return to their home country for fear of violence or poverty, she said. Haynes said education is a human right. She thinks Alberta's Education Act is discriminatory because it has a blind spot for undocumented children living in the province. At a school board meeting last month, families and advocates urged the school board to keep undocumented children learning. They pointed to other Canadian school boards, which have created sanctuary policies that pledge not to discriminate against students based on their immigration status, and resist sharing information with immigration authorities. Student Areana Capata, 13, told trustees on April 15 she has three siblings who haven't been able to attend school for two years, and she worries that she is next. Her siblings are denied the simple joys of making friends and learning, and Capata worries whether they will ever catch up with their learning. "We're not asking for special treatment," she said. "We're just asking for a chance." An administrative report to the school board says Ontario's Education Act requires schools to admit children, even if the child or their parent is illegally in Canada. B.C. law says students are eligible for school enrolment and public funding if they or their guardian owns or leases property, are employed, have a driver's licence or pay taxes. Administrators note that Alberta's law and school funding policies lack these provisions. Alberta's Education Act says schools can consider enrolling a non-resident student if there is space in a school, "resources" to accommodate them, and all resident students have been accommodated first. Boards also have the right to charge non-resident students tuition fees. Non-resident students are ineligible for provincial funding. Haynes said the school board could also choose to enrol undocumented students as "non-resident students" and charge a nominal fee for their attendance. Edmonton public currently charges international students $13,000 a year to attend one of its schools. Trustees want other boards to join advocacy Edmonton public trustees unanimously agreed on Tuesday to ask Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides to propose Education Act amendments that allow school divisions to enrol undocumented students, and for the provincial government to fund their education. They also agreed to ask other school boards and organizations like the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) to join their advocacy efforts. In a statement on Tuesday, Edmonton Catholic Schools spokesperson Christine Meadows said access to education for undocumented students is a "complex and sensitive issue." She said the board will welcome students to the fullest extent allowed by provincial law. Meadows did not answer a question about whether that board has taken any steps to advocate for changes. An ASBA spokesperson said the organization, which has 65 member school boards in Alberta and Yellowknife, hasn't yet taken a position on undocumented students and doesn't know how many boards consider the issue a priority. In a statement sent Tuesday, Minister Nicolaides said funding schooling for children from outside Canada aims to balance fiscal responsibility and compassion. "Alberta's criteria for funding education for newcomers is intended to be open and generous, and most children are eligible for a funded education in the province," his statement said. He said the only instance a child wouldn't have funded education is when they arrive in Alberta as a tourist or visitor. Edmonton public school board chair Julie Kusiek said his response doesn't account for undocumented children. "That's the group of children that we want to advocate for at a provincial level to see the changes required so that they can receive the same kind of education as their peer down the street," she said.
