Souris parent frustrated by division’s response after son attacked

A Souris parent claims the school system has failed to adequately address her concerns about student safety, while the Southwest Horizon School Division says it has taken the matter seriously and followed its established procedures.

Hannah Prince said her eight-year-old son was attacked by a Grade 4 student on the playground at Souris School on Sept. 29.

During the incident, she said, her son was pushed to the ground and choked.

Prince said a school official called her after the incident but described it as relatively minor and said her son was “OK.”

“I was later approached by someone who was a community member … to tell me how actually severe the event was,” Prince told the Sun.

The incident prompted Prince to question how the school handles student safety concerns, communicates with parents and responds to students who display aggressive behaviour.

She contacted the principal, superintendent and school board, but remains frustrated with the response she has received.

“The school has not reached out to me at all at this time,” she said.

“I am not trying to mainly pin this on a child,” she added. “I am more frustrated with the system in place.”

Prince said she believes the school system needs to have measures in place to support students with behavioural or emotional challenges while also ensuring other students and staff are safe.

She said she was told by the superintendent that expulsion was not an option and that the student involved would be returning to school.

She subsequently decided to keep her son home and has submitted paperwork seeking to transfer him out of the school division.

Prince has also requested that the student be removed from her son’s school bus, but said she has not received a response to that request.

She said she has also been contacted by the office of provincial Education Minister Tracy Schmidt, which told her it was looking into the matter and taking her concerns seriously.

Southwest Horizon School Division Supt. Stephanie Emberly told the Sun that the division is aware of the concerns raised about the incident.

“The Division is treating the situation seriously and taking all necessary precautions to ensure that the matter is properly investigated,” Emberly said in an email.

“While the Division is precluded from providing any details specific to a particular student or students, it is the Division’s intention to ensure that the situation is reviewed and that the matter is addressed in accordance with its internal processes and procedures.”

The division has supports available that are offered to parents and students when circumstances arise, she said, adding that the division “is confident that school staff have appropriately addressed these matters and will continue to take steps to ensure the safety of its students, in accordance with its obligations.”

Prince said she has since obtained a redacted copy of the incident report, which she said raised further questions about the school’s response.

According to Prince, the report confirmed information she had received from parents whose children witnessed the incident — that no staff member witnessed most of the attack and that students had to seek help from school staff.

Prince said the report also indicated that the only staff member on duty who had training in non-violent restraint was inside the school when the incident occurred.

“As a parent, doesn’t that terrify you?” she said. “Despite the history of previous violent incidents, the school put no extra safety measures in place.”

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