Schools are safe space for kids to grow up sheltered from much of world’s harsh realities.
Elementary, middle and secondary institutions in Abbotsford and across B.C. are almost always oases of peace – almost.
But after a violent stabbing left one girl dead and another seriously injured at Abbotsford Senior Secondary on Nov. 1, 2016, questions about school safety were raised. The answer to those questions were mostly reassuring for parents – the threats are few and far between and when they do come, students, administrators and teachers are prepared.
But for some, other questions remained.
How did a dangerous man with a knife get in their school?
Should schools be outfitted with metal detectors, armed guards and video surveillance?
Schools are “safer than virtually anywhere else,” Abbotsford superintendent of schools, Kevin Godden, told The News shortly after the stabbing. “However, I think when something like this occurs, it shakes your confidence in that notion.”
Soon after, the district undertook an extensive review of security protocols in its schools. The 31-page School Security and Safety Review released in June 2017 listed 34 observations and 31 recommendations to make local schools safer.
They included a recommendation to install a barrier between the public library attached to Abby Senior and the school itself to block a potential assailant’s route.
The report called for better clarification made around lockdown procedures, better communication protocols and strengthening of best practices. It also made observations about spotty cellphone coverage in the school and relentless media coverage that the district felt went too far.
Godden said most of the points raised in the report would be addressed by the end of the 2017/18 school year.