INNISFAIL – An Innisfail High School student has been suspended after a threat at the school was made last week.
The lunchtime incident on March 7 occurred on the same day the Chinook’s Edge School Division issued a media release about a new student violence threat/risk process and protocol.
"It just happened really quickly, around the noon hour where a student had uttered a threat,” said Kurt Sacher, superintendent of the school division. "We have (an RCMP) liaison officer in the school and they removed the student from the school right away when we had word of them uttering a threat.
"There was never any threat to student safety at that particular time but we stayed on the side of caution,” he added.
Several calls were made to the Innisfail RCMP Monday for comment but were not immediately returned.
Sacher said the RCMP is currently investigating the incident.
He could not provide any details surrounding the situation or the type of threat made.
"(RCMP) are involved. They removed the student and they are dealing with it,” said Sacher. "I just know they uttered a threat. I don’t know the specifics of that.”
Sacher confirmed the school did not go on lockdown as a result of the incident. However, he noted that if there was immediate danger to students or staff, the school would take proper measures, including implementing a lockdown.
"If you feel there’s an imminent threat to student safety, definitely, you’d look at that (a lockdown), but they had the liaison officer right there so they dealt with the student,” he said.
"(A lockdown) wasn’t necessary at that particular time,” he added, noting steps were taken to ensure the "privacy” of the student and that there were no other disruptions at the school.
"As they escorted the student out of the building they wanted to make sure there wasn’t a distraction to the school,” said Sacher, adding the incident was handled quickly and appropriately. "They took steps to escort the student out without having a further situation.”
Sacher said they informed parents of the incident at school shortly after it happened.
"We informed the public. We sent home a message to our parents,” he said.
The student has been suspended until further notice. Following the police investigation, the school will look into the incident, said Sacher.
"We have to wait until the police are finished with their investigation. They are still dealing with the student,” explained Sacher. "Until that’s done then we’ll do whatever’s necessary to ensure the safety of students.
"We have a number of processes we look at, that we’ll go through, but we’re not going to do anything until we’ve heard back from the police, who are still dealing with the matter to my knowledge,” Sacher concluded.
Kurt Sacher, superintendent of Chinook's Edge School Division
"There was never any threat to student safety at that particular time but we stayed on the side of caution."
