They are now pursuing complaints through the Alberta Human Rights Commission. In March, Ahmed Elsaid and Yasir Mohammad spoke to reporters when changes were made to how the school collected fees after the Palliser School Division took over the operation of the program. Prior to the transition of the Islamic School of Calgary to the Palliser School, the fee of $1,400 (and $1,200 for subsequent students) was paid to the Calgary Muslim Community Foundation. But because it’s a society and not a school board, many parents chose not to pay it in the years after Palliser took over. This included Elsayed and Mohammad — who also taught at the school for 15 years. When Palliser began collecting these fees from the society to cover the cost of delivering an alternative program, families who hadn’t paid now had to do so in order to enroll their students for the next school year. Many disagreed with this. Ultimately, it was determined that to enroll students for the 2022-23 school year, families would have to pay last year’s tuition first and continue to pay tuition for future school years.
Rejection letters
Elsayed and Mohammad paid the fees. Then came the rejection letters for all three of Elsayed’s children and one of Mohammad’s. “After much consideration, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer your child admissions for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year,” the letters read. “We recognize that this decision may be a disappointment to you and your family. All of our admissions decisions are made through a thorough committee review process. As a result, all decisions are final.” The fathers say they are the only two families they know of that have been affected in this way. They spent their summer fighting for the rehabilitation of their children. The Akram-Jomaa Campus of the Islamic School of Calgary is located near the airport in the northeast. (Oseremen Irete/CBC) “Imagine the first thing your child would ask you in the morning: ‘Am I going to school again?’ Will I see my friends again?’ said Mohammed. Elsaid said the real issue is that they went public. “The only problem from their point of view is that we talked,” he said. “Now we’re being targeted for it.”
“It was like my second home”
For his 16-year-old daughter, Noor, who is in grade 12, it was another devastating blow after the drama of the fee dispute last year (on top of the pressures of the pandemic). “I’ve been attending the school for six years. It’s been like my second home,” she said. “I knew my dad had paid the fees for next year and last year, so I felt discriminated against. I was emotional all my summer break. I cried many times and felt overwhelmed because this situation is out of my hands.” The families say they have tried to contact the school board, the education ministry and the Muslim Community Foundation for answers, but to no avail.
The decision was reversed
Palliser said she was unable to be interviewed, but in an emailed statement July 18, she said the foundation has a master agreement with the school division. It gives the institution the responsibility to review applications and make decisions about admission. Palliser then asked CBC News to contact the Muslim Council of Calgary (MCC), which is the foundation’s governing body. MCC did not respond to multiple CBC News requests for information or interviews over the past month. Then, last week, things suddenly changed, Elsaid and Mohammed said. Parents received letters from Palliser on Aug. 5 indicating that after discussions with MCC, students would be allowed to return to school. Parents, left to right, Mahar Hassan, Aziz Wadya, Ahmed Gouda, Mozammel Hoque, Yasir Mohammad and Ahmed Elsaid pose for a photo outside the Calgary Islamic School’s Akram-Jomaa Campus in March. They objected to the Palliser School Division’s imposition of what they described as “illegal” fees. (Oseremen Irete/CBC) “The administration of the Palliser School Division has decided, without prejudice, without precedent, and on an extraordinary basis to allow your children to enroll in the school for this year only,” it said. “This decision does not negate your responsibility to ensure that you and your children adhere to the codes of conduct that have been developed by the society to promote the alternative program at the Calgary Islamic School.”
Code of ethics of the society
Parents say they are happy their children will be back at school but are concerned the letters show it is “only for this year”. “That means they already have a predetermined decision that they won’t allow me for the next few years, no matter what we do,” Mohammad said. And by requiring them to follow MCC’s code of conduct, they say the school district is pushing responsibility back onto families. “We’re not bound by the society’s code of conduct because the school law says we’re only bound by the school board’s code of conduct. We have nothing to do with the society. I’m not even a member,” Elsaid said. In a follow-up to CBC News last week, Palliser said many of the issues brought to the board’s attention have been resolved, but there are still some issues being addressed. “We continue to work with both the Islamic School of Calgary and parents within the parameters set by the Alberta Education Act to address the concerns that arise,” it said.
Human rights complaints
Elsaid and Mohammad say they won’t let this situation go unaddressed. Both have now filed complaints with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. CBC News has seen correspondence between the commission and the families. It indicates that the agency has accepted their complaints and has launched an investigation. “We have sent an accepted complaint to the respondents and requested a response from them. The complaint will now wait until we receive a response,” it said. In an email, the commission says it does not comment on the nature or status of a complaint, as all complaints remain confidential until, and only if, they reach the court stage. It says that when a complaint is accepted, the commission contacts the other party (the accused) to inform them of the details of the complaint. The respondent then has 30 days to respond with a written statement. The Calgary Islamic School was established in 1992 to serve the city’s Muslim community. It is now a K-12 school with two campuses.
