Red Deer Catholic school trustee disqualified for violating sanctions, board says

The Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools' board of trustees has disqualified Monique LaGrange for violating sanctions issued after she likened LGBTQ pride to Nazi Germany in a social media post.

The board made the decision Tuesday morning and announced the move in a news release.

"I affirm our unwavering dedication to fostering a safe, secure, caring, respectful and inclusive learning environment for our students, staff and community members," said board chair Murray Hollman in the release.

"Regrettably, as a result of trustee LaGrange's violation of the sanctions placed on her on September 26, 2023, as well as her additional violations of board policy and the Education Act, the board made the challenging decision to disqualify trustee LaGrange."

The board said that as a result of the disqualification, as per Section 90 of the Education Act, LaGrange resigned from her position. 

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools serves over 10,650 students in 21 schools in Red Deer, Sylvan Lake, Rocky Mountain House, Innisfail, and Olds.

LaGrange's lawyer, James Kitchen, said in an interview with CBC that LaGrange did not willingly resign. 

"We're not resigning because we think we should, or because we think we need to," he said. 

"The reason this matters is because of the big difference, in this scenario, between her resigning against her will because she had to in the legislation." 

The Education Act states the board may, by resolution, declare someone to be disqualified from remaining as a trustee and the seat on the board to be vacant. 

Kitchen said they will eventually pursue judicial review of the school board's ruling to overturn the decision. 

The board says it will issue detailed reasons in support of the motion on or before Nov. 24.