The appeal of the trial judgment in Good Spirit School
Division No. 204 v. Christ the Teacher Roman Catholic Separate
School Division No. 212, 2017 SKQB 109 (the "Theodore
case") has been scheduled to be heard in March 2019. The trial
judgment found that Government funding of non-Catholic attendance
in Catholic separate schools is unconstitutional. The appeal is
expected to provide further guidance on the constitutional validity
of such funding.
Background
The Theodore case arose from the closure of a public school in
the small town of Theodore, Saskatchewan, and the subsequent
establishment of a separate school to educate the community's
children.
In 2003, the Yorkdale Board of Education (the "Yorkdale
board") voted to close the K-8 elementary school in Theodore,
due to low enrollment which had negatively impacted the quality and
cost of education. The 42 students at the Theodore public school
were to be bussed to a public school located in the