February 25, 2024

Silence Begets Violence

The habitual failure of Regional Centres for Education to provide a safe and successful learning and working environment.

Halifax West – Yet Another Silent Crisis

On Friday February 23^rd, Halifax Regional Police posted a news bulletin via X (formerly Twitter) advising the public of police presence at Halifax West High School.

“Halifax Regional Police is currently on scene at a Halifax high school in relation to a disturbance. At approximately 12:25 p.m. officers received reports of groups of students fighting at Halifax West High School located at 283 Thomas Raddall Drive. A number of youths have been arrested and police are maintaining a visible presence in the area. The investigation is in the early stages and additional information will be provided when it becomes available.”

Multiple confirmed sources have offered additional information about the severity and scope of the situation on Friday. Here’s what we do know:

First, there was a very large police presence at Halifax West High School. There appears to be at least 16 police cruisers parked outside the school in one of the photos we’ve received. 

Second, there has been no public statements from Halifax Regional Centre for Education or Halifax West High School about the hold and secure.

So, what exactly happened to elicit the strong response? It’s hard to say. There have been social media comments from individuals, identifying themselves as students attending school that day, detailing multiple fights and multiple arrests. They’ve also described police with long guns in the hallways and a K9 unit as well. There have been comments from parents stating their children couldn’t make it back to a classroom when the hold and secure occurred, so they had to hide in the restrooms. Other students claim they were outside during the hold and secure, and then couldn’t make it back inside the school. 

Estimates of police officers who were on the scene are varied. Based on the photo confirming 16 police cruisers were in the parking lot, it was at least that number. We have received unconfirmed reports of 24 cruisers and 30 officers.

Most importantly, there have been multiple unconfirmed reports that this incident was a sprawling result of a possible hate crime. It is alleged a student had their hijab pulled off of their head by another student, which resulted in a large number of students engaging in response. If this is accurate then there needs to be some serious dialogue and a deep dive inquiry into how to prevent such offensive actions from happening. The other unconfirmed claims paint a very violent and incredibly volatile situation.

But, once again, the public is left in the dark. By another school and a Regional Centre for Education. Our local news media should be asking these questions instead of simply repeating the contents of a police report in their coverage. We challenge local media to step up and demand answers about our education system from the province, all Regional Centres for Education and each school when these obviously serious incidents occur. Even though the official response from the province or any random Regional Centre will involve nothing more than a few words ending with “we’re dealing with this according to the Provincial School Code of Conduct,” the questions must be asked and that predictable answer is getting mighty tired. Talk to us like adults. You’re funded by the public and the public has had enough of the platitude that schools are “a microcosm of society.” That’s a cop-out, no pun intended.

The disconnect or denial from our elected officials and the higher level management in government departments is broad on the issues faced in public schools. It is not hard to understand at least some of the struggles and external influences that our students are facing, including poverty, domestic violence, learning differences. Our group and educators have been pointing the issues out of years. A member of our group expressed disgust with the lack of awareness, citing our Prime Minister’s recent comments, considering violence is up in schools, and homes are the # 1 place kids experience abuse.

Now is the time to have an open, inclusive dialogue about our education system, comprised of those employed by it, those who manage and oversee it, and those who entrust their children to attend it. While each Regional Centre for Education has announced upcoming “public engagement sessions,” the actual meat of the meeting has not been established. We aren’t provided any information about who will be in attendance. We haven’t been given any kind of framework or agenda. The goal on the invite is to “increase local voice.” Since 2022, they’ve received plenty of feedback through multiple online surveys. So what effect these discussions will have, if any, is a toss of the coin.

Our voices have already been loud. We’ve already been heard. Our voices don’t require any strengthening. We’ve been ignored thus far. By school administrations, Regional Centres for Education, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development AND Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Education. In case all of these entities have missed the point entirely, we want them to actually take our feedback and do something with it.

We’re thankful for Halifax Regional Police for being on-site and ultimately de-escalating the situation, but it shouldn’t have come to that. 

A violent altercation requiring a response of at least sixteen police cars is indicative of something deeper and uglier that’s been brewing. And schools can’t solve those problems in a vacuum. We need proactive solutions. We need to have open dialogue and not another survey from the province in which the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development demonstrates its tone-deafness and its ability to ignore responses that may be deemed costly or inconvenient. Well, what does it cost to have at least 16 police cruisers spend an afternoon at Halifax West High School doing what appeared to be riot control? We’re paying for it either way. Let’s do it proactively and limit the number of apparently extreme responses from law enforcement. 

We need more supports for students. We need to listen to our educators and support staff when they tell us what they need and what struggles they have in doing their jobs. We need to have better understanding of the culture of an 1800-student superschool and if that’s even feasible to manage properly, no matter what administration runs it. We need to get to the root of violence in our schools and make meaningful and effective changes to ensure our schools are indeed safe. And we need to do it now.