…parents dissatisfied with assurances by school’s administration

FOLLOWING unrelenting pressure from parents during a conference on Monday, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of School of the Nations, Dr. Dexter Phillips, took the decision to continue to suspend classes at the private school until after extensive consultations with a qualified security team.

This comes even as a source has disclosed that one of the names identified in a Facebook post threatening the security of students and administrators at the school, allegedly speaks of a teacher at the school.

Security concerns at the school intensified after Director of the school, Dr. Brian O’Toole was shot at his home on Sunday night. The school subsequently cancelled all classes on Monday.

The school has since engaged the services of Delta Security Services Inc., while the expertise of another security firm – Sheriff Security Service – is also being utilised after they offered their services pro-bono.

Though it is not yet known if there was any connection between O’Toole’s shooting and the social media threats, after the shooting a post surfaced stating: “his life is not and won’t only be the first”.

O’Toole’s condition has since been listed as stable and he is said to be recovering. He issued a statement yesterday.

“There were three bullets fired at me. I was struck by two of them. One did minor damage on the right arm and the other was more serious on the left where the bone was badly damaged. I am getting better and will likely be in hospital for a few days,” the statement said.

The situation at the school has quickly escalated since last Thursday when the security of the school first came into question after a student threatened to ‘shoot up’ the New Market Street School in a Whatsapp post.

The student was immediately expelled. In a subsequent video posted on Youtube, someone alleging to be the expelled student says that the Whatsapp post was part of a joke. However, two Facebook posts have since surfaced with threats to the lives of those at the school.

The first Facebook post threatening lives at the school mentions the names “Corina” and “Taz”. Representatives at Nations are said to have since noted that one of the name identifies a teacher.

When Dr. Phillips met with parents on Monday evening, he initially told parents that the school was planning to reopen on Tuesday and tried to reassure that the school was doing everything to put security measures in place.

“I believe that this challenge we face as a School of Nations family has threatened our resolve to do better as a school community. Meaning we work closer together, we parents, teachers, [and] administrators have to recognise our children are growing up in a world different from which we grow up in, and we have to find the best way to protect our children,” Phillips noted as he addressed the audience of parents.

However Phillips could not answer several questions posed by parents for information on the investigation into the shooting and the threats. Phillips said he was not at liberty to disclose certain information as the case is currently being handled by the police.
He nonetheless sought to assure that he was giving as much information to the parents as was possible given the circumstances.

“I honestly believe I’m standing here before you and what we’re doing is being very honest. We have not been dishonest in any way with our parent community. With regard to finding the others, we have given this case over to the relevant authorities, and I assure you we have followed all of the relevant protocols in this issue. We have been very open and upfront about this,” he maintained.

“This is an ongoing investigation. I do not have the authority to divulge what has been found and what hasn’t been found in the investigation. But it would be really wrong of me to preempt the outcome of the investigation. All I’m asked in the process is to provide information.”

Parents however did not feel reassured enough by the security plan that school was proposing. Phillips told parents that the school was going to bar vehicles from entering the compound, have security personnel placed at each of the two entrances to the compound, and carry out random searches of students’ bags. The school was also adding extra CCTV cameras to eliminate several “blind spots” not catered for, with already existing cameras at the school.

Phillips noted, and the many parents agreed, that mandatory searches of the bag of all students at the gate of the school would create a backed up situation that would not be in the best interest of the students.

Phillips also noted that all the students will be spoken to, while further voluntary counselling would be provided to any student or teacher who needs it.

This was not enough for parents however, many are calling for a precise contingency plan in the case someone slips under the radar and worst case scenario occurs at the school. Some parents noted that even if the school reopens today they would not be sending their children to school.

Dr. Phillips confirmed that the expelled student was being questioned by the police over the shooting of Dr. O’Toole. Dr. Phillips also sought to clear the air on allegations that the school questioned the student without parental present. Dr. Phillips said the student was summoned to the office and ordered to sit but nothing else was said to him until his father arrived.

A heated discussion, which at times bordered on the edge of escalating into an argument, ensued between parents as regards the extent of the responsibility of the parents and the responsibility of the school in speaking with students.

The situation was eventually pacified by a school representative who told the parents that the school representatives were not only educators, but also parents and further added that several administrative staff have children attending the school.

There were a number of calls for the school to address a culture of bullying at the school, which threatens the mental health of the students.

The school noted that the next meeting held with the parents will see a presentation being made by an appropriate security professional, who could better address the multiple concerns of the parents.

No date was given for the next meeting, or for when the school would re-open.
Caption: Parents attending a meeting at Nations encountered beefed up security measures after threats had been made to the lives of those at the school (Delano Williams photo)