More surveillance cameras will be installed at New Westminster Secondary School in response to growing concerns about safety.
The New Westminster Teachers’ Union and CUPE Local 409, which represents school support staff, both raised the issue of safety with the school district after a spate of dangerous incidents at the high school.
Those included a pepper-spraying incident on Oct. 12, followed by firecrackers being set off in the Grand Commons Oct. 31 and in second-floor bathrooms on Nov. 1.
NWTU president Kristie Oxley, in a letter to the school board, said some staff and students thought the noise of the firecrackers was the sound of a weapon being fired.
“The resulting panic was traumatizing,” she wrote.
Then, on Nov. 16, a student set fire to the second-floor bathroom, sending thick black smoke billowing into the hallways. The school was evacuated quickly, and Oxley said staff and administrators handled the incident well to keep everyone safe.
But she said the fire escalated tension at the school, where there had already been a “general sense of unease” about safety.
“To be blunt, the arson event was the last straw. Staff no longer feel safe in their school,” her letter said.
Laura Kwong, chair of the district parent advisory council (DPAC), has also spoken up for better safety measures at the school.
“DPAC has continually advocated for the safety of students at New West Secondary. Over the years, we have heard from parents and caregivers as well as students that they often do not feel safe in the school,” she told trustees at the Dec. 13 board meeting, noting the theme was echoed in a parent survey that DPAC undertook this fall.
Senior school district staff met with NWSS principal Murray McLeod and representatives from both unions in late November to find ways to address the safety concerns, and School District 40 superintendent Hachlaf also spoke to parents at a DPAC meeting.
Surveillance cameras just one part of safety response: SD40
A key part of the response is surveillance cameras.
Hachlaf, in two presentations to school trustees (at their Nov. 22 and Dec. 13 meetings) noted there are currently video cameras in the school, but the district is looking at adding cameras at key locations such as hallways and entranceways. It’s undertaking an assessment, including engaging with students, staff and parents, to figure out where those cameras should go.
Hachlaf noted all surveillance will be done according to the School Act and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
But surveillance cameras are just part of the picture.
Hachlaf said students also raised other suggestions, including having a better online reporting system for incidents of concern.
The school will also be looking at ways to improve education on health- and safety-related matters, through both curriculum and in assemblies. It’s also taking some other practical steps — such as installing metal toilet paper dispensers (rather than plastic) in student bathrooms and reviewing the possible installation of vape detectors in bathrooms.
Work will continue into the new year.
“We recognize the safety concerns,” Hachlaf said. “We hear them loud and clear.”
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected]
