Friday December 6, 2024 | VICTORIA, BC [Posted 12:12 pm | Updated 4:57 pm]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
There are 60 school districts in BC. All of them have a school safety plan except one — SD61 Greater Victoria.
Minister of Education and Child Care Lisa Beare says all but one of the province’s K-12 school districts have a school safety plan that meets the requirements of the Ministry, but that SD61 is “broken here”.
The SD61 Greater Victoria School District has been not in compliance with the Ministry’s requirements for school safety, according to Beare.
Beare says that SD61 “lacks a preventative and proactive approach” that other school districts seem to have figured out. In virtually every other school district that ‘prevention’ involves a police presence in the schools, something which SD61 is objecting to.
“This is critical work and it must be a priority,” said Beare today. She says the news plan must be supported by all parties. She will have final approval.
Evidently SD61 is objecting to not having authority to direct the work of police when in the schools.
Bigger issue here:
Likely all parties to this issue are concerned about student safety. The disagreement seems to be about the approach. SD61 seems turned off by the idea of police officers present on a regular basis in schools.
A letter was sent to the SD61 board on September 17, 2024 requesting that they provide an acceptable school safety plan.
A larger problem is at work here that SD61’s entrenched view seems to highlight… that schools are to be places of learning, not policing. The reality is that drugs and gangs do get into schools but prevention of that should be falling to the Ministry with public education. That this has come to on-the-ground policing within schools is a larger societal problem.
Special advisor will be guiding this:
Now a Special Advisor has been appointed to start work immediately with the SD61 board, to have a plan in place by January 6, 2025.
The SD61 school district must pay the $55,000 fee for the special advisor. Minister Beare says the board will figure out how to pay for that, and that classroom delivery of education (i.e. the operating budget) will not be unduly impacted. But that is not a certainty, it depends on budget decisions by the board.
Beare took a no-nonense approach in her remarks about SD61 today during a media availability. She is ready to apply sections of the School Act that allow the Ministry to fire the board if it comes to that.
SD61 leadership:
The SD61 Superintendent is Deb Whitten. The SD61 school board chair is Nicole Duncan.
The eight other trustees on the board are Karin Kwan (Vice-Chair), Natalie Baillaut, Angela Carmichael, Mavis David, Derek Gagnon, Emily Mahbobi, Diane McNally, and Rob Paynter.
SD61 says their working group will — due to the timeframe that includes a two-week winter break — will need to be working during the holiday season.
“This is clearly a high priority for the School District and the Board and we will report back again in early January as required by the Ministerial Order,” it was stated by the Greater Victoria School Board in a news release this afternoon.
“The Board is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of all students and staff in the school district,” says the SD61 new release. “We are dedicated to fostering safe and inclusive learning environments and we embrace an ethic of continuous improvement.”
“We look forward to the opportunity to work with the Special Advisor to review and reconsider our Safety Plan. The Board’s expectation is that Superintendent Whitten and the school district staff will fully and immediately, and over the next few weeks, cooperate with the Board and the Special Advisor to update and revise the Safety Plan and Implementation Plan as outlined in the Ministerial Order,” the SD61 board of education stated today.
BC Ministry of Education and Child Care news release – Dec 6, 2024:
Special adviser appointed to Greater Victoria School Board
Lisa Beare, Minister of Education and Child Care, has appointed Kevin Godden, former superintendent of the Abbotsford School District, as a special adviser to the Greater Victoria School District 61 to help the board of education revise and improve its previously submitted safety plan.
“It is a top priority of our government that schools must be welcoming places where all students and staff can come to learn and grow safely,” Beare said. “I believe the best approach to safety is a collaborative one. That’s why I am taking immediate action to ensure students and staff in SD61 are returning to school in the new year with a safety plan in place.”
The appointment of the special adviser takes effect immediately. The special adviser will assist the board with developing a revised safety plan, including an implementation plan, to be submitted by Jan. 6, 2025. As part of this process, a working group will be convened with the board, safety experts, police and key community partners and rightsholders.
The decision follows an administrative directive that required the school district to develop a proactive, co-ordinated safety plan to address safety concerns. Safer Schools Together, the Province’s team of school safety experts, conducted an independent review of the district’s safety plan with a panel of experts.
After discussions and consultations with the Songhees First Nation and Esquimalt First Nation, the four area police chiefs, the president of the Victoria Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils and School District 61’s board of trustees, and after seeing the results of the external review, the safety plan submitted by the district in November 2024 was not approved by the minister.
“While the school district’s safety plan provides some support for high-risk vulnerable youth and staff training, the plan is deficient in addressing key aspects of a comprehensive safety plan,” said Theresa Campbell, Safer Schools Together founder and chief executive officer. “Proactive safety plans must include strong relationships and collaboration with law enforcement, First Nations and other community partners. There is also a need for more specificity regarding safety strategies, protocols and processes.”
Section 171.1 of the School Act enables the minister of education and child care to appoint special adviser(s) to help a board of education in the conduct of the affairs of the school district in respect of any educational, financial or community matters. The board and its employees must assist the special adviser in carrying out their duties.
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NEWS SECTIONS: EDUCATION | K-12 EDUCATION | SD61