Near North District School Board trustee candidate Heather Garbutt said in a news release today that violence is increasing at area schools and that police need to become more involved.
"Schools are experiencing violence of increased severity and frequency," she says. Concerned parents have described instances of knives being pulled in elementary schools and death threats."
She suggests working with police services as a mitigating approach to what these youth might be experiencing that is leading to violence.
"Many of these violent acts would result in criminal charges when they are older."
She says police should have a vested interest in being involved in incident reduction strategies.
"Programs like the former DARE should be reconsidered given that the opioid crisis is reaching our schools."
Garbutt also says the Board's infrastructure resources at an enterprise level need to be examined to ensure that spaces are being used to their potential.
"An example of a situation that could be optimized is the board's concerns over excess space while too many of the students at Alliance learn in portables. Clubs such as Lego Robotics should have a home in the schools and at this point, most of the elementary clubs have been pushed out of the schools and operate as a community-based team."
Another opportunity she sees is with the City of North Bay.
"I have observed a fairly acrimonious dynamic between the current Chair of the Board and city officials," she contends.
"Both the city and the school board, for example, manage a significant public infrastructure that is utilized on opposite schedules. Road infrastructure and traffic capacity in and around schools is another area in which the board should be working with the City of North Bay. Citizens and parents have come to me since I have been campaigning to request that, once trustee, I seek a solution for traffic congestion around High and Chippewa Streets. In one case, queued school buses meant that an ambulance could not get to a house.
