The state of rugby at Nova Scotia high schools remains in limbo on Monday as a pair of memos from the province’s athletic federation insists that the sport will no longer be offered in the province’s schools.

The new memo, obtained by Global News and dated May 5, says that Education Minister Zach Churchill’s call to reinstate the sport on Friday “has not resolved the issue.”

“Any school playing rugby, like any other non NSSAF sport, is at the discretion of the principal,” writes Stephen Gallant, executive director of the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation (NSSAF), in the memo.

A second memo, also dated May 5, and distributed to all of the province’s principals disputes the actions taken by the minister.

That memo, penned by Stephen MacNeil, chair of the board of governors for the NSSAF, says their decision was based on the data from their School Insurance Program, a discussion of the limitations of the school season due to weather and field conditions and the lack of a developmental system for rugby.

“It was a difficult decision, but for student safety, the unanimous decision to remove rugby was made,” the memo reads.

The memo says that MacNeil met with Cathy Montreuil, the deputy minister of education, on March 29 to discuss any issues that could potentially come from the decision.

MacNeil shared his findings with Montreuil and explained the NSSAF’s reasoning.

“She offered no objections and engaged in a discussion about sports that may replace rugby on the schedule,” the memo reads.

The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

The memo continues by slamming Churchill’s decision, saying the NSSAF was extremely disappointed that the minister said they’d breached the agreement.

“Let me be very clear — the NSSAF Board is not against the sport of rugby. Our Board is simply not confident that a safe environment exists when rugby is being introduced to young men and women at the high school level,” MacNeil writes.

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