To Parents, Guardians and Caregivers of Students in the St. Clair Catholic District School Board:

The St. Clair Catholic District School Board is committed to providing safe learning environments for all students, staff, school visitors and community members. When a student behaves inappropriately, principals will most often employ progressive discipline strategies to help a student take responsibility for their actions, learn from their mistakes and make better choices in the future.

In more extreme cases however, when a student’s behaviour poses a potential threat to their own or others’ well-being, the Community Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol (VTRA) supports principals in taking further steps to safeguard everyone.

The VTRA protocol outlines how a school responds immediately to threatening incidents including but not limited to:  possession of a weapon or replica weapon, bomb threat or plan, verbal or written (including electronic) threats to harm oneself or others, other threats of violence, and fire setting.

The initial response team is likely to include the Principal / Vice Principal, police and board staff.  Should conditions warrant, a Community Threat Assessment Team will be convened. This community team includes representatives of community agencies who work with schools and boards to keep our students and staff safe, such as local police and children’s mental health organizations.

Parents and guardians will be notified if their child will be discussed through the Community Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol.  If parents/guardians cannot be reached, or if they choose not to provide consent, but a concern for safety still exists due to threatening behaviour, the threat assessment may still proceed. Personal information shared throughout this process will respect and balance each individual’s right to privacy with the need to ensure the safety of all.

As always, student safety is our first priority. This notification is being provided via avenues such as school newsletters and school and board web sites as fair notice to parents and guardians of the existence of the VTRA Protocol and its application if situations warrant. If you have any questions regarding the St. Clair Catholic District School Board Community Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol, please contact your school principal as the first step.