A 13-year-old boy was charged with uttering threats last week after allegedly “threatening firearm-related violence towards students” at Sexsmith Secondary School.

Clairmont RCMP said they received a complaint the night of June 4 and started their investigation by speaking with students at the school June 5, which led them to the youth who was interviewed and arrested. A firearm was subsequently seized at the boy’s home.

“Our members acted swiftly to gather information regarding this potential school threat,” said S/Sgt. Matthew Short, Detachment Commander of the Clairmont RCMP. “We took this threat seriously and partnered up with the school in order to handle this investigation in a quick and decisive way. We want to thank the members of the public who came forward with their concerns and helped avoid what could have been a tragedy.”

The youth was remanded into custody after seeing a justice of the peace and made his first appearance in the Alberta Youth Court of Justice June 10.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act prohibits publishing the identity of young people involved in crimes, including names, photos or any identifiable details to protect their privacy and to aid in their rehabilitation.

Peace Wapiti Public School Division (PWPSD) posted a statement on the division’s Facebook page June 5 at 1:45 pm saying they were “made aware of a potential safety concern brought forward by a member of the Sexsmith Secondary School community. As we take all reports seriously, we immediately enacted our established safety protocols and have been working in close collaboration with local law enforcement and community partners to investigate.”

The post went on to say, “there is no imminent risk to the safety of our students, staff, or school community” and offered counselling and support services to anyone who requested.

PWPSD Communications Officer Kayla Klava confirmed to The News Tuesday afternoon that no lockdown or hold and secure protocol was implemented and referred to a letter posted to the division website and sent to parents earlier that day.

The statement stresses “that at no time was there an imminent threat to the safety of our students or staff,” and goes on to explain that the division is “strictly bound by privacy legislation and must not interfere with an ongoing RCMP investigation; therefore, we are unable to share specific personal details.”

“As part of our standard safety protocols, if a specific student is ever identified as being at risk or targeted, we would reach out to the family to provide them with that information.”

There will be a few changes as the division works to maintain “a proactive, highly cautious approach to ensure our buildings remain secure.” 

The doors at Sexsmith Secondary and Robert W. Zahara School will remain locked throughout the school day for the rest of the school year and that will be reassessed in August for the new school year.

“We understand that some families may feel hesitant or anxious about sending their children to school. Please be assured that as we continue with normal operations, our schools are secure and open for learning for the remainder of the school year,”  read Tuesday’s PWPSD statement.

Some parents are frustrated enough with what they see as a lack of communication during a very serious situation that they’ve decided to leave their children home from school for the remainder of the year.

“My decision was based on the school and the school board not taking or addressing this properly in my opinion,” said Bobby Nicholl, adding there’s only six days left in the year and his son will still be completing exams.

“He is freaked out.”

He acknowledged he received an email from the division about 45 minutes after PWPSD made its social media post “stating there was a threat against the school, but there was no safety concern,” but wonders how that was determined so soon, and why classes weren’t cancelled altogether.

“This was less than 24 hours after the initial phone call was made to the police by a parent. Way too soon, and the school should have outlined better the severity of this threat. This wasn’t a kid lighting a garbage can on fire. This could have been a life altering event,” said Nicholl, who added he emailed an official at the school and received a one-line answer in return “not even acknowledging my concerns.”

Other Sexsmith parents, like Meaghan Girard, with children at the neighbouring Robert W. Zahara Public School saw the same Facebook post from PWPSD and were left asking a lot of the same questions. 

“My first thoughts were, ‘Why am I finding this out on Facebook? My son is at a school right beside there.’ A lot of parents work and aren’t constantly checking social media. I would have expected a direct email first,” she told the News. Girard said she also got an email about 45 minutes after PWPSD’s social media post, and email that contained the same information. 

She decided to pick her son up from school at that point.

“I was initially scared and confused.”

She said she was concerned with the lack of information at the time and has since heard from both her son’s principal, and the school division who assured her students were safe at all times. 

“Personally, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer, and I still don’t feel 100 per cent comfortable sending my child to school,” said Girard. “I know it was never the intention of the division or RCMP to put children at risk. However, as a parent, it still felt like a gamble with our children’s safety while they determined whether the situation was life-threatening or not. At the end of the day, I think parents deserved to know much sooner so they could make informed choices for their own children.”

It was a professional development day across town at St. Mary’s School, so no students were in classes. Grande Prairie & District Catholic Schools was informed of the incident at Sexsmith Secondary and initiated its hold and secure protocol, but it was lifted before it was fully implemented, after it was determined there was no danger to staff or the daycare facility on the premises.

“I get it, it’s a moving fluid situation,” said Nicholl. “But the school and school board should have taken better steps to assure that the school was safe.”

---

You can support trusted and verified news content like this.

FIPA’s news monitor subscribers, donors and funders help make these available to everyone rather than behind a paywall. We appreciate every contribution because it makes a difference.

If you found this article interesting and useful, please consider contributing here.

---

Learn more about our News Monitoring here.