The Saskatchewan Catholic School Board Association (SCSBA) is meeting with its lawyers and partners this week to formulate a way forward after a legal decision was handed down that could rock it to its core.

A Saskatchewan judge ruled Catholic schools should not receive funding for non-catholic students late last week. Judge Leyh delivered the 230-page ruling on Friday. The ruling is not set to take effect until June 2018.

The ramifications of the decision could be far-reaching. Students in public schools may find themselves crowded while catholic schools have empty hallways and coffers. Some daycare providers are also concerned because the bus routes that drop children off at certain locations are often dependent on which school children attend. Some may no longer have a safe route to their day homes.

Communities like Radville, where the separate and public school divisions cover all the grades from kindergarten to Grade 12 between them, could be particularly hard hit by the decision. In Radville, Kindergarten to Grade 6 are held at St. Olivier School which is managed by the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division. Grade 7 to 12 are managed by Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division.

In a release on behalf of the SCSBA, spokesman Tom Fotorsky has said they are "disappointed" and need time to digest the 230-page legal decision. 

"This has already been a 12-year journey instigated by the public boards, and we don't have much of an appetite to spend more on legal defense. However, we have an obligation to stand up for constitutional rights of separate school divisions, so we are giving serious consideration to an appeal. In the event of an appeal, a final decision would be a long way down the road," wrote Fortosky.

Premier Bad Wall also tweeted out his disapproval of the ruling.

brad wall tweet catholic schools

Discover Weyburn has called both the Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School Division and the Southeast Cornerstone School Division for comment and are awaiting a reply.