Education
Red Deer Catholic Regional School Board approves balanced budget and 2.9% student enrollment increase

News release from Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools
The Board of Trustees approve the 2023/2024 school year budget and Division Education Plan
On Friday, May 26, the Board of Trustees approved the 2023-2024 school year budget and the 2023-2026 Division Education Plan – Year Two Implementation Adjustments, at their Regular Board Meeting.
2023-2024 Budget:
The Board of Trustees approved a balanced budget with a projected increase in student enrollment of 2.9 per cent. Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) strives to maintain a fiscally responsibleĀ budget with the main goal of ensuring our resources are directed toward having the greatest impact in the classroom and continue to provide a quality, faith-based education to students.
āThe 2023-2024 school year budget is reflective of the Boardās continued focus on innovation, strategic planning, mental wellness and permeation of our faith,” said Board Chair, Anne Marie Watson at Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools. āIn addition to these priorities, the Board of Trustees and Senior Administration worked collaboratively to ensure budget decisions were also aligned with the Division Education Plan, Strategic Development Plan and the areas of focus provided by Alberta Education.ā
The 2023-2024 budget will be submitted to Alberta Education on May 31, 2023.
Division Education Plan:
RDCRS is currently in the second year of the 2023 ā 2026 Division Education Plan. This plan guides the strategic direction and supports the three Board of Trustees Strategic Imperatives, including:
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Mental health and safety
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Purposefully, tangibly, and visibly demonstrate our faith, and
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Build a workplace culture of engagement, empowerment and innovation
The Division Education Plan was drafted following active engagement with community stakeholders in central Alberta, utilizing interviews to help develop these board priorities and link these with the Division Education Plan. Moving forward, RDCRS will continue to engage with, and prioritize, RDCRS community partners and stakeholders through a collaborative approach to foster successful teaching and learning outcomes. To view the approved Division Education Plan, please click here.
Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools serves over 10,085 students in 21 schools in Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail, and Olds. It also supports the learning of over 600 students in a Home Education Program. The Division is committed to serving children and parents with a complete offering of learning opportunities delivered within the context of Catholic teachings and within the means of the Division.
Alberta
Parents group blasts Alberta government for weakening sexually explicit school book ban

From LifeSiteNews
By
The revised rules no longer place restrictions on written descriptions of sexual content.
Some parental rights advocates have taken issue with the Conservative government of Albertaās recent updates to a ban on sexually explicit as well as pornographic material from all school libraries, saying the new rules water down the old ones as they now allow for descriptions of extreme and graphic sexual acts in written form.
AsĀ reported by LifeSiteNews last week, Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides of the ruling United Conservative Party (UCP) released revised rules outlining the provinceās ban on sexually explicit content in school libraries.
The original ban included all forms of sexually explicit as well as pornographic material. However, after a large public school board alleged the ban applied to classic books, the government changed the rules, removing a clause for written sexual content that has some parental rights groups up in arms.
Tanya Gaw, founder of the conservative-leaningĀ Action4Canada, noted to media that while she is happy with Premier Danielle Smith for the original book ban, she has deep concerns with the revised rules.
āWe are very concerned about the decision that no longer places restrictions on written descriptions of those acts, which is problematic,ā she said in an interview withĀ The Epoch Times.
Gaw noted how kids from kindergarten to grade 12 should āneverā be āexposed to graphic written details of sex acts: incest, molestation, masturbation, sexual assaults, and profane vulgar language.ā
According to John Hilton-OāBrien, who serves as the executive director of Parents for Choice in Education, the new rule changes regarding written depictions āstill shifts the burden onto parents to clean up what should never have been purchased in the first place.ā
He did say, however, that the new āMinisterial Order finally makes catalogs public, and what we see there is troubling.ā
Albertaās revised rules state that all school library books must not contain āexplicit visual depictions of a sexual act.ā To make it clear, the standards in detail go over the types of images that are banned due to their explicit pornographic nature.
All Alberta schools have until October 31 to provide a list of books that will be removed under the new rules, with the ban taking effect on January 5, 2026.
AsĀ reported byĀ LifeSiteNews in May, Smithās UCP government went ahead with plans to ban books with sexually explicit as well as pornographic material, many of which contain LGBT and even pedophilic content, from all school libraries.
The ban was to take effect on October 1.
The UCPās crackdown on sexual content in school libraries comes after several severely sexually explicit graphic novels were found in school libraries in Calgary and Edmonton.
The pro-LGBT books in question at multiple school locations areĀ Gender Queer, a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe;Ā Flamer, a graphic novel by Mike Curato;Ā Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson; andĀ Fun Home, a graphic novel by Alison Bechdel.
Crime
Canadian teacher showed Charlie Kirk assassination video to young students, said he deserved to die

From LifeSiteNews
A Toronto teacher was suspended after reportedly forcing students to watch the assassination video while lecturing them about āanti-fascism, anti-trans, and how Charlie Kirk deserved this to occur.ā
A Canadian teacher from the Toronto area has been suspended after showing the assassination video of Charlie Kirk to children aged 10 to 11 in his class, allegedly telling students Kirk deserved to die.
The teacher, from the Corvette Junior Public School in Toronto, Ontario, has been suspended and is under investigation by officials at the Toronto District School Board.
According to aĀ Toronto SunĀ report, a source close to the situation said that several students from the teacherās class āwent home and complained to their parents, traumatized at witnessing the on-camera death, which they were forced to witness numerous times over.ā
The source added that āparents subsequently reached out to school administrators, who will be putting him on leave at the start of the school day, September 12th, 2025.ā
According to the source, while the teacher was playing Kirkās assassination video, ārepeatedly, he gave a speech to his students regarding anti-fascism, anti-trans, and how Charlie Kirk deserved this to occur.ā
This past Friday, school officials sent parents a letter about the incident, calling the teacherās alleged actionsĀ āextremely troubling and completely disturbing.āĀ
āDuring class, students were said to have been shown a portion of a violent video in response to questions being asked about a recent tragic event in the United States,ā reads the letter, which was signed by Corvette Junior Public School Principal Jennifer Koptie.
The letter confirmed that the video was allegedly shown to kids in grades 5 and 6 by a staff member at the school, who wasĀ supervising a French immersion class, but was not the studentās regular teacher.
āWhile an investigation must still be conducted to learn all of the details, the report of this incident is extremely troubling and completely unacceptable,ā the letter continued.
Koptie wrote that the teacher has beenĀ ārelieved of all teaching responsibilities pending the outcome of the investigation and will not be at the school.ā
AsĀ reported byĀ LifeSiteNews, Kirk, who was the CEO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), was shot in the neck during an event on the campus of Utah Valley University last Wednesday and later died.
Law enforcement has Kirkās alleged shooter in custody, asĀ reportedĀ by LifeSiteNews.
AsĀ reported byĀ LifeSiteNews, the roommate and alleged āpartnerā of Charlie Kirkās assassin suspect has been confirmed to be a man who identifies as transgender.
Canadaās Conservative Party leader,Ā Pierre Poilievre, last week, gave a touching tribute to Kirk, saying he was āmercilessly assassinatedā for simply expressing his ācontrary views.ā
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, after a long delay last Thursday,Ā broke his silenceĀ on the assassination of Kirk, saying he was āappalledā by his murder while calling for āprayersā for his family.
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