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Education Minister David Eggen is demanding assurances from a private Christian school board that it will comply with provincial legislation allowing students to set up gay-straight alliances.

In a letter sent Friday to Pastor Brian Coldwell, the chair of the Independent Baptist Christian Education Society, Eggen demanded a written pledge that the schools will adhere to sections of the Alberta School Act allowing students to set up the organizations. The letter was also distributed to media organizations.

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The education minister set a deadline of Sept. 16 for the schools to reply. Coldwell has previously said the board will not comply with the GSA rules, saying they constituted “religious persecution.”

Two schools, Harvest Baptist Academy in Spruce Grove and Meadows Baptist Academy in Edmonton, fall under the jurisdiction of the Independent Baptist Christian Education Society.

On Friday, Eggen wouldn’t rule out withholding the schools’ funding and called recent media statements by Coldwell “concerning.” The letter was prompted by those public statements and the private board’s policy submission, which left the minister doubting the board’s intent to comply with the act.

Coldwell said any decision to withhold funds would be an attempt to “bankrupt” the schools, which receive 70 per cent of their operating funding from the province.

sxthomson@postmedia.com

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