ATIKOKAN — The Rainy River District School Board needs to review its campus-safety policies and investigate an Atikokan school’s response to last week’s report of a student with a weapon, a local parent says.
The school board says it is looking into how school administration responded last week and how to better respond to reports of threats.
Administration at the Northern Lakes K-12 School heard from two students last Wednesday “about a potential threat,” according to a Nov. 21 news release from the school board.
A “privacy in place” – a status in which hallways are cleared and students remain in classrooms – was initiated while a search was conducted, the news release said.
A 15-year-old student was removed from the school, taken into custody and charged with uttering threats and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Aniela Hannaford, who has two children in the school, told Newswatch school administrators were slow in notifying parents and “chose not to call police.”
Imposing a privacy-in-place indicated the school “clearly knew there was a risk,” so they should have called police right away, she said.
“The school really screwed this up,” said Hannaford. “Really screwed it up.”
Heather Campbell, the school board’s education director, said Northern Lakes’ administration “chose to follow the emergency response that best supported student and staff safety at that time.”
In an email to Newswatch, she said there was “some confusion in our reporting; it has not been our best work in getting the information to parents/guardians in a timely and correct manner.”
Schools respond to reports of threats by first investigating “to see if it’s a credible report,” Campbell said.
Upon receiving information about a possible threat shortly before noon on Wednesday, administration contacted the school supervisor and located the student alleged to have made a threat, she said.
A privacy-in-place was enacted so lockers could be searched “without raising the alarm of students and staff,” she said.
“Our school leaders make the best decisions within difficult situations, with the best information that they at hand at the time,” Campbell said. “Our priority is always the safety of our students and staff.”
Schools are careful about what information they share with the community when investigating, she said. “This is not only due to requirements under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, but also to preserve both the police services’ investigation as well as our own.”
Parents and guardians are encouraged “ to speak to the school whenever they are concerned about student safety,” she said.
Police went to the school after receiving public reports of the school’s situation at approximately 1 p.m., according to a news release from Atikokan’s OPP detachment.
They began an investigation assisted by the Rainy River District detachment’s crime unit and charged a youth who attends the school. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the youth’s name cannot be published.
