Another washroom fire at New Westminster Secondary School has renewed conversations about safety and the need for surveillance cameras at the city’s only high school.
New Westminster Teachers’ Union president Kristie Oxley sounded the alarm bell at the New Westminster school board meeting held Tuesday night (March 7).
She noted the Feb. 24 fire — following on the heels of a similar incident in November — was well handled by the school.
“NWSS staff and administration acted quickly to ensure student safety by evacuating when the fire was discovered just before 3 p.m.,” she said. “Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of concern about the fact that this fire caused additional damage to yet another bathroom.”
Oxley said the fire and evacuation caused feelings that ranged from “inconvenience to actual distress” in the students who had to stand outside on the field waiting to be let in.
Principal Murray McLeod, in a letter to families, noted the fire had been "quickly extinguished" by staff, and students were evacuated immediately.
"The fire department was called and responded quickly. Students remained outdoors until the fire department advised us that it was safe to return to the building," he wrote. "Although no one was hurt, these incidents are extremely dangerous and put the safety of our students and staff at risk. If your child has any information related to this incident, please encourage them to speak with a member of the administrative team."
Bathroom vandalism, pepper spray have also hit NWSS
Oxley said teachers are also concerned about the fact that additional bathrooms had been blocked off due to vandalism.
Concerns around safety at the high school have been in the spotlight since the fall, when a series of incidents occurred: a pepper-spraying on Oct. 12, firecrackers set off in the Grand Commons Oct. 31 and in bathrooms on Nov. 1, and the Nov. 16 fire.
At that time, Oxley wrote to the board saying the arson fire was “the last straw.”
“Staff and students no longer feel safe in their school,” she wrote.
Since then, the school and district administration have been working on ways to improve safety at the high school, including holding educational sessions for students and installing more surveillance cameras at key locations such as hallways and entranceways.
Oxley noted a consultation process around video cameras has been completed and the teachers are expecting the cameras to be installed during spring break, along with phones in classrooms to give teachers an added level of security.
“It’s our hope that those tools will help to improve safety,” she said, adding she’s grateful that school administration and the district have been willing to meet with her to hear and act on teachers’ concerns.
SD40 superintendent Karim Hachlaf said the district will continue with “transparent communication” with students, staff and parents around the timeline for installation of video cameras.
He voiced his disappointment about another incident of bathroom vandalism, noting it reinforces the need to continue to act on safety in the school.
Hachlaf said the district and school will continue to “intensify” educational efforts with the students on respecting the school spaces.
The district and school will also be looking further into the gender-neutral bathrooms at the high school to see if any “modifications” need to be made, he said.
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