The long-standing tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer at one Alberta elementary school has recently undergone an extensive review, after a parent questioned the legality of the custom.



The parent whose child recently started attending Busby Elementary School, located in the tiny hamlet in Central Alberta, voiced her concerns to the principal that she felt the practice was “illegal.”



The prayer has been part of opening morning exercises held in the school’s gym for decades. While other provinces consider the recitation a violation of students’ rights, Alberta’s School Act allows the religious practice in the classroom and leaves it up to the school districts to determine their own policies.



David Garbut is the assistant superintendent for Pembina Hills School Division, which includes Busby Elementary School. He says he began actively researching the legality of the custom by reviewing the legislation. He concluded that it was legal, though there were certain parameters that had to be followed in order for it to be legitimate.



“There’s a series of steps,” he tells Yahoo Canada News. “First there’s the parents, then the principal, who makes a recommendation to the board, then all the information goes to the board and they make the decision.”



A consultation meeting was organized and widely advertised in the local newspaper and school’s website. It was also decided that on Sept. 30, a ballot would be handed out to parents with children in the school in order to collect data.



Almost 50 people attended the meeting, mostly parents with children in the school, along with several community members and staff.



Of the 64 families that could vote, 33 chose to take ballots, with 30 voting in favour of the Lord’s Prayer being recited in school, and three opposing. That means the tradition will continue on.



A letter was sent out to parents on Thursday, stating that the recitation would start again after the Thanksgiving long weekend. Those who wanted their children to sit out during the prayers could let the school know.

Parents in other parts of Alberta have filed similar complaints concerning the Lord’s Prayer in recent years. In 2013, schools in the town of Taber dropped the practice after a mother complained that her child had been reprimanded for not knowing the words to the prayer.

Garbut stresses the debate hasn’t changed the dynamic within the tight-knit community.



“At the end of that meeting, those for and against stayed and were mingling,” he says. “Life has gone on there. They’re still being good neighbours.”