Louis Riel School Division updating security protocols after review finds safety gaps

The Louis Riel School Division is installing video intercom systems, upgrading digital card readers and changing door-locking practices, following an internal review initiated after a child was grabbed in a school last November.

That review found gaps in security protocols for accessing its schools. 

“Regrettably, we had an incident in one of our elementary schools, an intruder, and from that incident we have learned that we need to refine our approach to ensuring schools are as safe as possible,” Louis Riel superintendent Christian Michalik told CBC News on Friday.

A registered sex offender allegedly entered an elementary school in the division in late November. Police allege he hid in a bathroom and grabbed a student who came out of a stall. 

The child escaped and was not physically hurt, but the incident prompted the Manitoba government to order every school division in the province undertake a safety review and submit an emergency response plan for all schools.

Michalik says the division’s principals and other senior staff looked at the security procedures in schools and found the division needed to revamp its infrastructure and standardize access policy to enhance safety.

“The culture in our schools, as was the case in many schools across the city, the province … we wanted our schools to be open to the community, we don’t want all of our doors locked,” Michalik told CBC News on Friday.

“But [the child-grabbing incident] has forced us to rethink that approach and that culture of openness.”

The division wants controlled access at all elementary schools.

Michalik says some K-8 buildings didn’t have a policy that supported the restricted entrance, and staff at buildings “were less vigilant” about locking doors.

Following the internal review, the division is making sure doors are now locked at elementary schools and main entrances are left for access while classes are in session, the superintendent says. 

However, most schools are saddled with limited technology systems to screen people who try to enter. The audit found the division needs to install 38 video intercom systems along with 132 digital key card readers. 

Some existing card readers also need to be updated, and Louis Riel also needs to purchase more surveillance cameras and integrate them with other security systems.

“It’s about doing the best we can to make schools safe,” Michalik said. 

As for high schools in the division, the superintendent said the approach has to be different: Doors can’t all be locked during classes because students enter and leave the campus throughout the day. 

“We’re not at a place yet where we’re saying in our high schools all the doors have to be locked,” he said. 

At least one main entrance is left open, and the technology overhaul for the division would also help with surveillance.

“But we also need to nurture that culture of collective responsibility,” Michalik said. “Everyone in the school, staff and students … when we see a visitor, we have to remind them to make their way to the office.” 

All divisions submit safety plans

Louis Riel is expecting all infrastructure improvements will be completed by the end of the school year, Michalik said.

Meanwhile, Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said earlier this week she has received an updated safety plan from all of the province’s school divisions.

The boards can also access more than $500,000 in funding from the government to conduct assessments on facilities or update existing data to identify potential security risks.

So far, 16 school divisions have requested part of the money through the Manitoba School Boards Association, with 101 schools developing proposals for safety improvements, the province said in a news release.

Association president Alan Campbell told CBC News it is good to see fewer than half of Manitoba’s 37 divisions have requested funding. 

“It makes it clear that the majority of school divisions, perhaps, don’t need to make the enhancements that were initially thought of,” he said.

Most school divisions either had robust safe systems or staff trained to monitor entrances, he said. 

“It’s not really a surprise that it’s a minority of schools … seeking to make immediate enhancements to safety plans and security plans,” Campbell said. 

The association said the initial funding will not be used for infrastructure or technology upgrades, but would help offset costs of safety assessments. 

The funding will be used for divisions to share best security practices with each other, with training sessions and at least two provincial school safety forums.

“There’s obviously an opportunity for more alignment and for more learning,” Campbell said.