Tensions on the rise at Calgary Islamic School over fee disputes

Parents at the Calgary Islamic School say they're refusing to pay fees imposed by the school board after the year had already begun because they believe the fees violate parts of the Education Act.

The issue arose last fall when Palliser School Division informed the families that it would be collecting $1,400 in "alternative program fees" (and $1,200 for every subsequent child), to cover the cost of Islamic instructors, Islamic resources and supplies, an executive director and support staff and facility maintenance and upgrades. 

"In November, they sent us an email informing us there is a new school fee for being an alternative program, which is completely going against the ministry of education bylaws," said Ahmed Elsaid.

The father of three students is acting as a spokesperson for a group of a couple dozen frustrated parents.

"They have to introduce these fees before registration and before the school year starts," he said.

The Calgary Islamic School (CIS) was founded in 1992 to serve the Muslim community in the city. It is now a K-12 school with two campuses.

'There's a misunderstanding'

In previous years, CIS had fees of roughly the same dollar amount that were paid to the Muslim Community Foundation of Calgary (MCFC), but as it is a society — and not a school board — parents like Elsaid say many of them chose not to pay.

Then, this past fall, the school board took over the collection of those fees. 

"If they wanted to come to the alternative school, they have to pay a fee, and so parents that decided they didn't want to pay the fee, that's been a bit of a struggle," said Palliser treasurer Dexter Durfey.

"I think there's some misunderstanding as to the fact that these are not public schools and that to attend there's a fee."

Durfey says the fee is the same fee MCFC always charged for the delivery of the program.

"The only difference now is, in the past, the MCFC, who owns the buildings and whatnot, collected the fee directly," he said. "All we did is change the process. Palliser now collects the fees."

Palliser apologizes for 'less than ideal timing'

In a December letter to parents, Durfey apologized for the mid-semester change in process.

"Palliser School Division reiterates its apologies for the obviously less than ideal timing, rollout and communication with respect to the alternative program fees," he wrote. 

"Palliser School Division concedes that it did not communicate the Palliser School Division alternative program fee pursuant to Section 19(5) of the Education Act prior to student registration or prior to the commencement of the 2021-2022 school year. Instead, the fees for this year were initially communicated prior to registration and prior to commencement of this school year as society fees consistent with past years' handling of these fees."

Durfey says families who did not pay the fees prior to the start of this school year were allowed to continue this year, but in order to register for the upcoming school year, outstanding fees from 2021-22 must be settled.

"You have a lot of parents that have paid their fees and feel blessed to have the ability to attend an Islamic school," he said.

"So when you've got the majority of parents that are paying, you know, they're not overly pleased either with some of this."

'Imaginary position'

Elsaid said part of the reason he and other parents continue to refuse to pay is because they don't understand how the money is being spent. He points to the $210 per student fee to cover the cost of an executive director and support staff. 

"This is an imaginary position. There was no director and there is no director," he said. 

Durfey says that line item is meant to cover the cost of an MCFC employee who manages and oversees the program from the society's end, manages the MCFC-owned building and liaises between the schools and the society. 

But that position is unfilled.

"They haven't had one since COVID … late 2019, early 2020, just around the time COVID hit," he said. 

Durfey says it's up to MCFC to hire for that role, and he knows they've been actively interviewing candidates over the past 18 months. But, if they don't hire someone, that could mean families who paid fees would see a refund. 

"If they don't get somebody hired, we'll have to come up with how we're going to manage that, whether it's refunding fees or working with parents to come up with an alternative use of the funds," he said. 

Elsaid says parents also take issue with the $854 facility maintenance and upgrades fee charged per student, as they feel the buildings have been neglected, adding there have been complaints from parents for years around HVAC systems and plumbing and sanitation, among other things. 

MCFC did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. 

'We're talking less than 100 kids'

Durfey says overall, there is a small number of parents who have taken issue with these fees.

"When this started, we were getting hundreds of emails, but when we said if you want to register for next year, you need to have these paid and the registration is going to open on March 14. I would say we've collected well over 70 per cent, the fees have been coming in pretty quick now," he said. 

He says students with parents refusing to pay fees make up about five per cent of the school's population. 

"This is not a big group that we've heard from.… Out of 1,600 kids between two schools, we're talking less than 100 kids. And if you look at families, some of them have two, three, four kids," he said. "We're not even talking many families." 

Alberta Education

A statement from the education minister's office says alternative programs offered at the Calgary Islamic Schools are considered programs of choice for Alberta students, and the Education Act enables school boards like Palliser to offer alternative programs in their schools to meet the specific educational interests or needs of students.

"In Alberta, school boards have the autonomy and accountability to make decisions about the operation of their schools, including decisions regarding school fees and the development of policies/procedures to address parental concerns," said press secretary Katherine Stavropoulos.

"Alberta's legislation respects local decision-making for the setting of school fees; the final decision on school fees is made at the local school board level."

Stavropoulos says Alberta Education has received correspondence on this topic dating back to at least September 2021.

"We continue to share relevant information from legislation and regulation with parents and refer concerned parents to the school authority," she said.