By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
CAYUGA—The parent of a student of JL Mitchener Public School in Cayuga is alleging that the school failed to follow the safety protocols as laid out by the Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB) during an incident in which a student brought a knife to school and made threatening comments about his intent to stab another student with it before classes began on the morning of November 16, 2022.
“We are aware of the incident that occurred on November 16 before the start of class. The matter was dealt with by staff and protocols were followed, including a report to the OPP, and a subsequent message to JL Mitchener families. No student or staff came to any harm. Staff and student safety is our top priority and relevant Grand Erie policies were followed. We are bound by privacy considerations and can’t speak to specifics of disciplinary matters,” said Dave Smouter, Manager of Communications and Community Relations for GEDSB.
Smouter provided The Press with a copy of the email sent to parents at the school following the incident, by school principal Scott Macdonald, which read, “I wanted to advise on an incident today. A student brought a steak knife to school this morning, a situation staff became aware of right away before classes began. The student was immediately separated from the rest of the student population, and the knife was confiscated. We are following the appropriate processes in investigating and addressing this matter. No students or staff came to any harm, and the police have been advised of this incident.”
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous to protect their child’s identity, gave their understanding of the morning’s events, based on information from their child.
“Upon entering the school, students made teachers aware that a child was in possession of a knife. At that point, a Learning Resource Teacher (LRT) who was working on behalf of the principal – as the principal was out on meetings that day – approached the child and asked him to empty his bag, where they did indeed find a knife. The knife was confiscated, and the child was simply sent home.”
The parent alleges that neither the parents of the intended victim or the police were notified at the immediate time of the incident, something they say goes against GEDSB’s ‘School and Community Protocol for Violence, Threat, Risk Assessment, and Intervention’.
They allege the incident constituted an immediate threat based on the presence of the weapon and the student’s stated intentions to use it to harm another student. According to the GEDSB protocols section titled ‘Guidelines for Administrators: The Threat Assessment Process,’ the first step is to ensure student safety and call 911. At that time, the protocol says the school must appropriately monitor and/or detain the student(s) of concern until the police member of the team is present, as well as interview witnesses whether directly or indirectly involved.
The parent alleges these steps were not taken: “When the knife was confiscated nothing was done to keep the victims safe or to keep him in a place where he was isolated, as the child with the knife who had been sent home lives directly across the road from the school and upon leaving the school threatened to be back at second break. These threats were not taken seriously and at any time this child could have come back to the school.”
They said that the intended victim attempted to hide in the school bathroom during the next scheduled recess out of fear, where they called a friend who wasn’t at school that day. That friend told their parents, who then contacted the police approximately two hours after the incident took place. They allege that when the LRT found out the police were coming, they questioned the victim, confiscated their phone, and sent them outside.
“At what point do we wait for something really bad to happen before we realize these steps should have been taken?” asked the parent. “I feel that the way the situation was handled by the LRT in charge left the school at risk and they were just fortunate that that day played out the way it did.”
The parent continued, “Furthermore, the victim should have supports within the school making sure that mentally and emotionally he is not affected by this situation, however none of this happened and still has not happened. We need to do better for our children; our children should feel safe at school.”
In addition to their other claims, the parent also alleged that a student in a separate classroom attempted to tell their own teacher about the knife, but was ignored, and that the email sent by the principal only considered the LRT’s account and not the experiences of the students.
The Press requested a comment from Haldimand OPP about the incident but did not receive a reply as of publication.
