Repeated threats at St. Patrick High School in Thunder Bay put community on edge
A youth has been charged in connection with some, but not all, of the threats
Frustration has been mounting among staff, students and officials as St. Patrick High School in Thunder Bay, Ont., continues to be hit by repeated threats.
The school has received numerous threats over the past few weeks which have resulted in disruptions to classes. The school of roughly 1,500 students has been closed four times since Nov. 27.
Most recently, two separate threats meant the school was placed under a hold-and-secure response twice on Wednesday, marking the fifth and sixth incidents.
The Thunder Bay Police Service said they have charged a youth with two counts of mischief and two counts of public mischief in the threats made on Tuesday and Wednesday. While their identity is not being released as per the Youth Criminal Justice Act, police say they are not a student at St. Patrick High School. They have been released from custody and are to appear in court at a later date.
Police say an investigation is ongoing into the earlier threats made against the school.
No one has been harmed as a result of these threats, but parent council member Maeghan Tofinetti says it has been hard on everyone involved.
"It's frustrating for parents, it's frustrating for taxing the resources of our police department, and it's frustrating for the community," Tofinetti told CBC News Tuesday.
"I can't imagine being a teacher or an educator or principal and having to deal with all of this."
Her daughter, who's in Grade 11, is now facing a backlog of assignments piling up due to the constant disruptions.
"She's extremely, extremely stressed out about it," Tofinetti said.
While she commends the way the school board and Thunder Bay Police Service have handled the situations, she's worried about the long-term impact of these threats — and what happens if they just keep coming.
An 11-year-old child was found responsible for a threat made to Pope John Paul II on Nov. 21, and another young person was charged with mischief and uttering threats at St. Ignatius High School on Nov. 28.
For many in the city, the past month's events call them back to early 2019, when Hammarskjold High School received more than 30 threats in a three-month period, which cost police more than $200,000.
Safety is the top priority
The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board has been sending out media notices about each threat and has been notifying families through social media and other channels.
"I'm very impressed with the reaction time and the response that they've had to these threats," Tofinetti said. "I don't feel that my daughter, nor any of the students for that matter, [have] been put in any imminent danger and I feel like all of the communication has been very well received and in a proper timely manner."
At the end of November, Pino Tassone, the board's director of education, released a statement in response to threats made not only at St. Patrick, but at other Catholic schools across the community including St. Ignatius High School, Holy Family School and Pope John Paul II.
"The recent threats to our schools have been appalling and disheartening. I want to emphasize that the safety and well-being of our students and staff are our top priorities and circumstances such as these are always taken seriously," Tassone wrote on Nov. 29.
"Our school resource officers and Thunder Bay Police constables have gone above and beyond investigating these situations and I am thankful for our partnership and their commitment to our school communities. Our schools are safe and welcoming environments, and we intend to keep it this way."
Seemingly small prank can have big impact
Cst. Tanka Awosika of the Thunder Bay Police Service spoke with CBC News last week about the threats. While he has since been reassigned from his role as school resource officer, he said it's important for people to recognize the snowball effect of threats made.
"It's important for us to educate [students] as to the importance of recognizing that something as little as a prank could have a long-lasting, devastating effect on the emotional well-being of other people, whether they be other classmates or teachers or administrators or parents," Awosika said.
Craig Murphy, manager of Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay, told CBC News that when students must be sent home due to threats, he co-ordinates with the bus companies accordingly. He said there will be extra costs associated with these early dismissals, but these have not yet been calculated.
Calls for more mental health support
Carlo Cappello, who represents secondary schools within the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association in Thunder Bay, is calling for more mental health resources.
"These situations create significant and undue stress and anxiety amongst everyone in the school community – and exacerbate ongoing issues of mental health and well-being," Cappello said in an email to CBC News on Tuesday.
"We need more professional resources, such as counsellors, social workers, and child and youth workers to adequately support our students' mental health and well-being."
The school board recently shared mental health resources with families to help them cope with crisis events and disruptions.
Tofinetti said she hopes the situation doesn't take away students' sense of real danger. Nevertheless, she is relieved that even if the threats are hoaxes, authorities are taking them seriously every time.
"If you cry wolf too many times, how do we know to take it seriously?" she asked.
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