An outside adviser has urged the education minister to close a “significant gap” in law that sets different expectations for public and private schools’ accommodation of LGBTQ students and staff.
Education Minister David Eggen issued a ministerial order Thursday based on the adviser’s report, telling two defiant Edmonton-area Christian private schools they must allow students to create a gay-straight alliance if they request one.
Eggen received the report from lawyer Dan Scott in November 2016 — it was released publicly Thursday.
Scott said private schools are exempt from a law that requires schools to provide a “welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment” for students. He recommended the minister amend the School Act to change that inequity.
“I’m assessing it very carefully,” Eggen said Thursday. “I want to make sure that we are both applying the law in an equitable way, and that people will … understand the importance of having this right afforded to all students regardless of where they go to school.”
