Security survey data measures safety around schools
While most schools in School District 60 experienced no security issues, there were a few which, during the first three months of the school year, experienced issues relating to drug paraphernalia, tents, and interactions with unwelcome strangers on school property, according to a survey conducted by Superintendent of Schools, Stephen Petrucci.
At the request of the school board, Petrucci contacted each school in the district to determine what security issues, if any, each had experienced with respect to some of the social issues in the community, such as homelessness and drug use.
Part of the reason for collecting this data, said Board Chair Helen Gilbert was due to the establishment of the OPS site near Ecole Central.
“If we didn’t have some data, we wouldn’t have any idea if the situation was getting worse or better,” she said.
Petrucci’s survey covered all schools in the District, Gilbert said, “because the prevalence and number of homeless individuals in the community is higher, we felt it would be nice to have an idea what was happening in other places in the District.”
Ecole Central Elementary and Bert Bowes Middle School staff reported tents set up in the school grounds, which were removed. Staff at the Energetic Learning Campus reported some tents set up in the old Canadian Tire parking lot several times from September to November, which were removed after contacting bylaw officers.
More lighting and enhanced fencing at Ecole Central aims to prevent these situations, by being proactive, said Gilbert.
“It seems manageable for now,” said Petrucci. “The board has taken those proactive steps around Central School specifically, and it is working.”
Six schools reported interactions with unwelcome strangers between September and November. The ELC has had a number of incidents with people confusing the school entrance with the entrance to the Pomeroy Sports Centre, while Dr. Kearney Middle School, the Key Learning Centre and Ecole Central each dealt with intoxicated individuals on one occasion.
Broken bottles were concerns at Bert Bowes and Duncan Cran Elementary, and various drug paraphernalia were found on the grounds of Ecole Central, the ELC and Bert Bowes. Of these, Ecole Central staff found the most concerning items – a meth pipe, crack pipes and a bag of weed – during the survey period.
The survey’s purpose, said Petrucci, was initially to provide a “snapshot of what the issue looks like at this moment in time.”
As the school year is ten months long, and this survey collected data for a three-month period, trustees suggested that Petrucci provide an update in the spring.
“We want to know if there’s an uptick,” said Gilbert.
“We absolutely need to continue tracking it, just to see if there’s an increase, or if there’s a decrease,” said Trustee Thomas Whitton.
Gilbert said she’s learned that schools in other places had trouble with people looking for plug-ins during the daytime to charge their cellphones. “If there’s an uptick in activity anywhere that has people not feeling as safe as we would like them to be, we need to know what’s going on.”
Petrucci agreed to bring information back to the board a couple of times a year, sooner if there is an issue.