Families complain to Human Rights Commission after rejection by Calgary Islamic School

Two families say they feel they're being unfairly targeted by administration at the Calgary Islamic School, Palliser School Division and the Muslim Community Foundation of Calgary because they went public about a fee dispute last year.

Now they're pursuing complaints through the Alberta Human Rights Commission. 

Back in March, Ahmed Elsaid and Yasir Mohammad spoke to reporters when changes were made to how fees were collected by the school after the Palliser School Division took over operating the program. 

Prior to the Calgary Islamic School switching to the Palliser School district, the $1,400 fee (and $1,200 for subsequent students) was paid to the Muslim Community Foundation of Calgary. But because it is a society, and not a school board, many parents chose not to pay it. That included Elsaid and Mohammad — who also taught at the school for 15 years. 

When Palliser took over collection of those fees to cover the cost of delivering an alternative program, families that had previously not paid the fees were now required to in order to register their students for the following school year. Many took issue with that.

Ultimately, it was determined that in order to register students for the 2022-23 school year, families would be required to pay the fees for last year first, and continue to pay fees for subsequent years attending the school. 

Elsaid and Mohammad paid the fees.

Then came the rejection letters for all three of Elsaid'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," read the letters. 

"We recognize that this decision may come as 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 who have been impacted this way. They've spent their summer fighting to have their children reinstated. 

"Imagine the first thing in the morning your child would ask you, 'Am I going to school again? Will I see my friends again?'" said Mohammad.

Elsaid the real issue is that they went public.

"The only problem from their perspective is that we spoke up," he said.