INNISFAIL – A 14-year-old female student at Innisfail High School has been charged with uttering threats following an in-school incident earlier this month.
The student is scheduled to appear in Red Deer provincial court on March 22.
“The police take these kind of threats extremely seriously given the light of what has occurred in other jurisdictions and to our neighbours south of the border,” said Innisfail RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk.
The alleged threat by the teen was reported to school officials on March 7, and the student was immediately removed from the institution.
Kurt Sacher, the superintendent of schools for Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD), said the family is in the process of making “alternative educational arrangements” for the child and she will not be returning to Innisfail High School.
Meanwhile, a new partnership has been created to help keep students, staff and the community safe.
Chinook’s Edge School Division welcomed the signing of Central Alberta’s Community VTRA Protocol. The joint violence threat/risk assessment (VTRA) protocol was finalized at a special signing ceremony at the division office on March 12.
The official signing comes several months after community partners and CESD met (in June) to discuss changes to existing safety procedures.
“It’s about a collaborative effort, to be proactive and preventative when we are assessing a level of risk,” said Wanda Christensen, associate superintendent with CESD.
“Before we had a memorandum of understanding between the partners, but in the last three or four years (Kevin Cameron, executive director for the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response) has really encouraged community partners to solidify or formalize our protocol. This is why we have this community protocol in place and why this signing is so big for us,” she added.
Christensen noted the need for communication amongst schools and community partners.
“Connecting the dots and making sure all the authorities – mental health services, educators, child and family services, and RCMP would be communicating, connecting and talking so that we could assess the level of risk and get a sense as to what’s happening, then put a proactive action plan together.”
Community VTRA protocol partners include Canadian Centres for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response (CCTATR), Chinook’s Edge School Division, Red Deer Public School District, Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, Olds College, RCMP, Alberta Children’s Services, Alberta Health Services, Child/Youth and Family Addictions and Mental Health, Town of Olds, Central Alberta Community Corrections, Mountain View County and Chinook Arch Victim’s Services.
“This protocol is very clear around what actions we need to take as a community,” said Christensen.
Stuart Cullum, president of Olds College, one of the community partners, was on hand for the signing of the protocol March 12.
“We need to be thinking about these things in a collaborative way,” said Cullum. “That’s what this is really about, that as a community recognizing that we need to prevent and be aware in order to support each other.”
With files from Johnnie Bachusky
Innisfail Staff Sgt. Chris Matechuk
"The police take these kind of threats extremely seriously given the light of what has occurred in other jurisdictions and to our neighbours south of the border."
