The chair of the School District 43 board of education said school administrators did not sit on the sidelines and do nothing after an alleged assault near Citadel middle school earlier this month.
Kerri Palmer Isaak told The Tri-City News that a principal called police immediately after the Jan. 10 incident and admins reached out to all families and students involved.
“It’s unfortunate that there was a great deal of misinformation,” Palmer Isaak said Wednesday, claiming staff were “very much involved.”
“The principal and assistant superintendent were involved with the families. That was a number one priority — concerting to work with the families involved.”
SD43 has come under fire in many social media posts for its handling of the incident, which was first reported to the public on Facebook by someone claiming to be the mother of the girl who was allegedly assaulted.
(RCMP have arrested a 13-year-old Maple Ridge boy on one count of assault causing bodily harm and another count of uttering threats stemming from the incident. He has been released on a promise to appear in court.)
In her post, the mother of the 14-year-old girl who was allegedly assaulted said the boys were not suspended from Citadel, where her 11-year-old daughter — also reportedly at the scene of the assault — goes to school, causing her anxiety and making her reluctant to attend school, while the girl who was reportedly injured in the altercation told CTV she is too afraid to leave her home.
“I’m hoping the school can be accountable for not suspending these boys,” she wrote in one Facebook post.
(The Tri-City News reached out via Facebook to speak to the mother but has not yet heard back. RCMP, meanwhile, are cautioning people against making "snap judgements" based on what they see online)
Her comments mirrored many others, including responses to SD43’s Facebook post on the incident.
“I have no trust in the school system unfortunately regarding bullying and it just proved it again. Very sad!” said one poster.
“The fact that the school district allowed those boys to continue to go to school with the children who are related to the victim and even after the mother reached out to the school no one did anything is DISGUSTING," wrote another. "Those poor kids are clearly going to have serious trauma from this incident. You need to do better SD43. And telling parents and members of the community to keep quiet while you all drop the ball is also not ok. Accept responsibility for how badly this was handled by all."
Similar posts are contained in comments on The Tri-City News’ Facebook page.
But Palmer Isaak said efforts were made to deal with the situation by the school principal and an assistant superintendent, although she didn’t specify what those actions were.
Palmer Isaak said she couldn’t confirm what disciplinary measures have been taken, if any, citing privacy concerns. And while school officials were involved in the situation from the start — Isaak said the principal of nearby Hazel Trembath elementary called RCMP when the girls went to the school after the incident — SD43 administrators were limited in what they could do because they had to let the police investigation take its course.
“We don’t want to impede their investigation,” she said.
According to Palmer Isaak, the incident took place between the two schools, not on Citadel property, noting that another member of the family was a student at Hazel Trembath.
Palmer Isaak said the board isn’t typically informed of school-based incidents when they happen, and wasn’t in this case, as principals and the district’s top leadership are trained to handle such situations. But she said she read the mother’s Facebook post, as did thousands of others this week, and from there obtained information and kept the board updated via email.
As news spread throughout the school community, and beyond, hundreds of people emailed the district. But only those with ties to SD43 received a response, Palmer Isaak said. As well, Citadel parents were sent a letter and while the district posted its own statement on Facebook, and Palmer Isaak made a statement at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
As to what the school can do now to heal wounds and unite the community, Palmer Isaak said there are programs running across the district that promote inclusion, compassion and empathy. In the meantime, she said she sympathizes with those concerned about the situation.
