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When it was discovered that the suspect had fled Bowmanville High School, the police advised neighbouring schools in both the public and separate school boards to lockdown as well. While these schools only remained in lockdown for a little over an hour, Bowmanville students were not released until much later. Concerned parents anxiously waiting outside the school were kept up-to-date by the police officers in attendance. While this scenario brings up haunting images of the school shootings at Columbine and Taber, Alberta, thankfully no one was hurt.

In response to the criticism that the schools may have gone into lockdown mode too quickly, David Selby, Director of Corporate Communications for the Durham Regional Police Service said, “We can’t play the guessing game. If we have information that we believe is possibly true, then we can’t start conjecturing. We have to start making decisions and those decisions are always on the side of public safety.”

Local school trustee Nancy Coffin agrees. “They had to do what they thought was right at the time,” she said. “After all, student and public safety is paramount.”

Lawyer James Cameron is counsel for the Catholic Principals Council of Ontario and the parent of three children. Cameron speaks with considerable authority when he says that he doubts any parents would complain about how the incident was handled. “If you’re doing what you’re doing to promote student and staff safety, you’ll receive no complaint,” said Cameron. “In fact, the opposite will be true. People will be grateful that you are making their safety your priority.”

What happened in Bowmanville wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction to protect the students at all costs. From the moment that first telephone call was received, school officials and local police followed a carefully drafted emergency protocol that was established in accordance with several provincial directives.

In Ontario, those directives came from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Both have mandated that school boards and police services establish a protocol for the investigation of all school-related occurrences. The Bowmanville High School fell under the Police/School Protocol that is in place between Durham Regional Police Service and four public and separate school boards with schools in the Region. In addition, in accordance with Ontario’s Emergency Management Act, every municipality in the province was required to have an Emergency Preparedness Plan in place and filed with Emergency Management Ontario by December 31, 2004. Approved plans have to be reviewed annually by each municipality, which are also required to hold emergency exercises to test the efficacy of each plan.

In our post 9-11 world, Ontario is not alone. Every province in Canada has some form of Emergency Planning Act in place, as do most municipalities and school boards. Being prepared for an emergency, and knowing how to respond appropriately and calmly when one occurs, can not only save lives but also help to reassure frightened staff and students.

In the case of the Bowmanville incident, the students in all of the area schools involved had previously participated in emergency exercises. It was because of these exercises that the students felt safe and in control in what would otherwise be considered a high-stress situation. Rebecca Girling is a grade 10 student at St. Stephen’s Catholic Secondary School, one of the many schools that were locked down following the initial incident at Bowmanville High School. Her response to her experience reflects the value of being well prepared.

“Initially we just thought it was a drill, but after 20 minutes of sitting on the floor, we realized that there was something serious happening,” said Rebecca. “Because we’d done the drill before, everyone remained calm because we knew what was expected of us.”

Provinces, such as Ontario, may mandate emergency plans, but there is no operational standard to follow. Since operational matters are ultimately the responsibility of individual school boards, it is also their responsibility to develop plans with local police and other officials that are unique to each school and school board, and that also reflect the local community. In the case of Durham Region, emergency plans are custom tailored to each school, and take into consideration such variables as location, proximity to police, fire and other emergency services, and road access.

While the situation at Bowmanville High School was resolved without incident or injury, it reinforces the need for school administrators to know what to do in the event of an emergency.

Here’s a checklist:

Student safety is paramount:

When in doubt, check it out. If you suspect that there may be a potentially dangerous situation in your school, immediately contact the police for advice or action.
Have regular safety drills at your school. This will help prevent panic in the event of a real emergency.
Invite the community service representatives from your local police and fire departments to talk to younger children about safety.

Become a safety expert:

Do you homework. Find out what emergency plans are in place in your area, whether they are provincial, regional or local, and understand the chain of command. (In the Bowmanville incident, control of the situation became the jurisdiction of the local police.
Get to know your school board’s emergency policies and procedures.
Familiarize yourself with your local municipality’s Emergency Preparedness Plan.
Invite a representative from your local municipality to review the plan with staff and students.

Communication is critical:

At the beginning of the school year inform parents of the process when there is an emergency in the school/school community.
Make sure your school council or parent teacher association understand the emergency plan and keep them informed as to how the plan is implemented in the school (e.g. emergency drills) each semester.

In the event of an emergency:

Let parents know what’s going on as soon as possible. Following the Bowmanville incident, the school board’s website posted a notice regarding the outcome of the event later the same day. The following day, students in both the public and separate schools involved received a letter home, also explaining the event.
Take control of all communications. Thanks to the widespread use of cell phones at Bowmanville H.S., students were text-messaging their friends in other classrooms and neighbouring schools about what was going on. While the situation resolved itself without incident, unauthorized cell phone communications could have seriously impacted the outcome. At the very least, erroneous information could incite student fears. In a worst-case scenario, a cell phone could potentially be used as a triggering device.

For more information:

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The federal government’s SafeCanada website www.safecanada.ca provides information about safety and security information and services in Canada. The site contains links to public safety information from all relevant federal government departments, as well as many provincial and municipal websites.

Planning for Emergencies: What Principals Need to Know: