The Saskatchewan Catholic School Boards Association says it will appeal a judge’s decision to ban funding non-Catholic students in Catholic schools.

This comes after a court ruling released last week said provincial government funding of non-minority faith students attending separate schools infringes on religious neutrality and equality rights.

Justice Donald Layh's ruling stems from a lawsuit over the province's policy of funding separate schools based solely on student enrolment without regard to the religious affiliation of the students.

The dispute started in 2003 when the Yorkdale School Division, now Good Spirit School Division, closed down its kindergarten-to-Grade 8 school in the town of Theodore because of declining enrolment. The division planned to bus its 42 students to the community of Springside, 17 kilometres away.

In response, a local group created its own Catholic school division and opened St. Theodore Roman Catholic School.

That prompted Good Spirit School Division to launch a lawsuit claiming the creation of the new school division was not to serve Catholics in the community, but rather to prevent the students from being bused to a neighbouring town.

SCSBA says its decision to appeal has been unanimously endorsed by all eight Catholic School boards in the province.

“The legal team representing Christ the Teacher School Division in this case has carefully reviewed the judge’s lengthy decision,” said SCSBA spokesperson Tom Fortosky. “We believe that there are several strong grounds for appeal.”

Fortosky noted that the board has heard a lot of concerns from parents and said funding will not be received for non-Catholics if the appeal is lost in court.

“The constitution provides the Catholic minority with the right to operate a school system with accordance of Catholic values and beliefs,” said Fortosky.

“We believe that this includes the right to have an inclusive and welcoming admittance policy consistent with the church's ecumenical efforts since the Second Vatican Council."

The SCSBA plans to file its appeal within one month. It said it is aware of a number of non-Catholic students in the province attending Catholic schools, but could not provide an exact number.