As 2022 draws to a close, we’re looking back at the top 10 New Westminster news stories of the year.
Yesterday, we brought you a recap of New Westminster’s response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, starting with the Russian invasion in February.
The journey through the year’s biggest headlines continues today with number 8: safety at New Westminster Secondary School.
Safe at school? Safety fears grow at New Westminster Secondary School
It’s an issue that has simmered in the background for months, even years.
But it wasn’t until this past April that the issue of harassment, rape culture and sexual violence at NWSS exploded into the headlines.
It began with a small group of students speaking up at an open school board meeting to share their concerns about ongoing gender-based harassment at the city’s only high school. A couple of weeks later, the school’s SEAS (Safety, Education, Advocacy and Support) group organized a walkout and thrust the issue into the media spotlight as more than 200 students rallied at the school district offices and on the high school field.
Their message: Enough is enough, and we deserve to feel safe at school.
Efforts have continued, largely out of the public eye, to deal with the concerns the students raised.
But the overriding issue of safety at school hasn’t gone away.
A “blunt-force weapon” assault in the high school parking lot, which was attended by the New Westminster Police Department’s gang unit, raised fears in April.
Then, in the new school year this fall, came a series of incidents that reignited concerns about how safe — or unsafe — the school is.
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.
New Westminster Teachers' Union 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 the incident was sufficient to spark both the teachers’ union and CUPE Local 409, which represents school support staff, to approach the school district for action.
School District 40 has met with school, parent and student representatives to talk over their concerns over safety, and it’s coming up with a multi-pronged approach to address the issues.
The school will see more surveillance cameras installed, particularly covering hallways and entranceways, along with more education on health- and safety-related matters for students, plus some practical changes — such as installing metal toilet paper dispensers in the washrooms and looking into installing vape detectors.
That work is planned to continue into 2023. What effect it will have on the school climate has yet to be determined, but one thing is clear: This is another issue that won’t be fading from the headlines any time soon.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected]
