Lessons learned was a common theme Thursday night as Hanover School Division officials met with members of the community of Niverville, to break down the events of the threat towards Niverville Collegiate Institute earlier this week. 

On Tuesday evening a student posted a picture of a gun on social media with the caption "schools gonna be fun tomorrow". Following that, parents contacted RCMP as well as staff from Niverville Collegiate and by midnight police had neutralized the threat and seized the firearm which turned out to be a BB gun. 

The Hanover School Division received a lot of feedback from parents on Thursday, questioning why there was a lack of communication and why it took so long for them to hear about it. Following that, a meeting was called so HSD and RCMP to explain the chain of events to the parents. Ruby Wiens, a trustee for the Hanover School Division, says they appreciate the input people gave towards improving clarity and communication to students and parents, should another similar situation arise again in the future. 

"You like to think that you have planned for every type of situation but then one hits you and you realize you haven't and then you learn. This is a learning situation for us, I think our community people have just shown us a few gaps that we can work on. I think that means a lot to us, we value that input and we are going to use that going forward. We want our kids to be safe, that is our number one priority."

Examples of improvements which were brought up were, first off, using the automated phone system used for snow day alerts, to alert parents on top of also sending emails. Many parents noted the fact that with all the technology advancements in this day and age, they should have received information much faster than they did even if all the message says, is the children are safe and there is no danger. One parent also suggested simply canceling school for the day, just to be safe, until the matter is fully resolved and everyone is on the same page. Lastly, was a suggestion that everyone in the school gather for an assembly first thing in the morning so the principal can then explain the situation to everyone so the students are all fully aware and not sending misleading messages to friends and family throughout the day.   

Amber Hayward is a parent of two students at NCI. She says although there were some communication issues, Hayward is thankful for the measures taken by HSD to communicate with the parents as best they could. 

"I agree that it has been dealt with very well. The school, at least they had the meeting immediately just to showcase and tell [us] what was going on throughout this whole event. Like I said, my biggest concern was 'could we have gotten this done a little bit quicker?' You know, if they were notified at 1:30 in the morning, then this should've been dealt with that night but apparently, there was some miscommunication so they just need to get protocols in order to make sure that this is better if it ever happens again and I pray it doesn't"   

Wiens notes they heard some great suggestions from the community which she says they will take back with them and discuss as a board to see what changes can be made to be more prepared in the future. 

 

Read More:
 Student Makes Threat Towards NCI

Niverville Parents Outraged Following School Threat

Hanover To Hold Meeting With Parents Thursday Evening