Parents believe the school or district should have been more forthcoming with details
Carleton North High School received information on Thursday afternoon regarding an alleged shooting threat that was purportedly to take place on Friday.
News of the allegations spread rampantly on social media, and by Friday morning, many parents were concerned by the school’s lack of communication.
“The first time I heard about the shooting threat was Thursday night, around 11:30 p.m., when I was on Facebook before I went to bed,” said Helen Paterson, one of many concerned parents.
She said that by Friday morning, there still had not been any communication from the school, so her husband called the school to inquire about the situation.
“He asked what the school was doing to protect the kids, and she just said, ‘No comment.'”
When Patterson pressed for answers, the secretary merely replied, ‘I’ll add your name to the list of parents that want answers,’ and hung up on him.
They chose to keep their children home from school.
Melissa Paget had a similar experience.
“At 11:30 p.m. [on Thursday], I opened Facebook and saw a Snapchat picture being shared with information about a threat towards students and staff at Carleton North High School,” Paget said. “When I woke up at 6 a.m., I had multiple messages from other worried moms.”
Paget said the other parents hadn’t heard from the school or knew what was happening. She eventually called the school and left a message advising that she would be keeping her daughter home from school until she heard from the school about the status of the situation.
“I was very concerned for her safety, and I wasn’t sending her until I knew [what was going on],” said Paget.
Sgt. Dan Sharpe of the West District RCMP said the school informed the police of the situation.
“We had a call come in and we immediately collaborated with the school,” he said. “In speaking with school officials and Social Development, we quickly determined where the threat came from and that there was no immediate threat.”
He said police are following up on the incident.
Parents feel that communication from the school could have been better. Staff were notified about the situation by email on Thursday at 10 p.m. However, parents did not receive any communication until 8:27 a.m. the following day in an email advising parents the school had received notice of a threat on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 3.
The email noted that they found no credible threat to student or staff safety after investigating the situation following the Violent Threat Risk Assessment. The school also sent an automatic voice message at 8:29 a.m.
“I really feel it would have been nice to receive a call or email before opening the school doors,” said Paget. “They knew about the situation since the afternoon before.”
Paget noted that the lack of communication before the start of school was upsetting.
Paterson also feels that the situation could have been better handled.
“I think that as soon as they heard about the threat on Thursday afternoon that the parents should have been sent an email to advise us of the situation,” she said.
Patterson felt that school should have been closed on Friday or kept in a hold and secure pattern until the threat was cleared.
River Valley Sun contacted the school on Friday morning for a statement.
The person answering the phone, who declined to identify themselves, responded with “no comment,” before hanging up.
Vice-Principal Bridget Nugent responded to an email inquiry on Saturday.
“School administration and district staff worked carefully on this situation Thursday evening and Friday morning,” she said in the email. “The RCMP was also involved in the response. Communications from the school and district were shared when information could be confirmed, and the time was right. Our administrative assistants fielded a large volume of calls and worked swiftly to keep phone lines open. The safety of students and staff remain as the highest priority.”
