Saturday, December 4, 2010

To the municipality

JMJ
December 04,2010
    To: Local Advisory Ctte, Administrator of Brabant Lake
    From: L’Ecole Notre Dame du Nord
    There has been an ongoing acrimony due to an attitude of contempt and resentment against Our Lady of the North School from controllers of Ospwakun Sepe School ( Public, Northern Lights School Division). In virtually every case we have initiated activities and programmes that were non- existent and the tax- funded school has attempted to stop them.  For example: Four weeks ago we started up St. Mary’s Bible Club, an ongoing programme for 15 years. It used to be Tuesday evening. Then the Recreational Director saw this as a threat.
    We moved it to Saturday afternoon. There was no activity of any kind on Saturday afternoons from the Recreation Director or O.S. School. Immediately antagonists to the mission school began poker rallies. The Recreation Director phoned our house today just before the event with antagonism. At St. Mary’s Club which was well attended  children, and adults if they wish to come participate in fine arts, history, social activities, Christian education and spiritual exercices. Why should this be bumped for an activity that turns a public school into a gambling house?
    Why does the recreation director think her job is to stop other people’s activities?
    While the tx funded school with a multi- million dollar budget gets hundreds of dollars for every social event from the municipality there are continueal attempt to even stop us from having privately- funded social events.
    There seems no vision, no goal to O.S.S. controllers but to stop the mission school and activities. There is no financial sense to its existence except to stop us. Everyone knows that the public school would have long since been closed except that we are here with an independent school
    Rather than gratitude that we keep alive two schools instead of none we can’t even put on a catechism class without harassement.
    There are constant unfounded accustations and violations of privacy flowing to government offices. Yet the public school operates with virtually no educational accountability from in or outside.
    The worst aspect of these injustices are parents and children are led to believe that the public school is the correct school, the norm. the standard and one is out- of - line to use the school where real definable educational goals exist.
    Parents and students are led to believe that the Independent School is penalised and attacked due to inferiority or limitations of opportunities for upward mobility.
    The municipal government has played no small part in reinforcing and adding to this misconception. It has never accepted the legal and historical reality that L’Ecole Notre Dame du Nord is equal in status and rights to a public school ?
    Should we get equal funding for social events to a school/ gambling house? Yes. At least
    Should our activities, programmes and events be treated with respect with no deliberate overlap and competition? Yes.
    Most importantly has the municipal office the right to enforcce unfairness if not blatent persecution of an independent school? The answer is legally and morally, no.
    Sincerely, Mrs. Gay Caswell for L’Ecole Notre Dame du Nord/ Our Lady of the North School.