Penticton Christian School is responsible for the safety and security of its students while they are in attendance. This responsibility sometimes extends to identifying, preventing, and responding to violence. In recent years, there have been a number of highly publicized examples of situations where the perpetrators of violent acts have made their intentions publicly known on social media or online long before the incident occurs. Such information when brought to the attention of law enforcement or school authorities can be vital to preventing incidents before they occur.
In order to better equip Penticton Christian School to protect the safety of students and staff, Penticton Christian School may in appropriate circumstances conduct a student threat assessment. This process involves the monitoring and gathering of information where there is reason to believe that a risk of violence may exist, including by conducting limited monitoring of online activity to identify threats before violence occurs.
Penticton Christian School is subject to personal information privacy laws, and will undertake the collection of this information in compliance with the requirements of such laws, including by limiting collection to information that is relevant and necessary to address a risk or threat. Penticton Christian School will not collect information as part of a threat assessment unless there is reason to believe that a risk exists.
All threat making behavior by a student shall be reported to the Principal who will activate the student threat assessment protocol for the initial response. Once the protocol and response team has been activated, interviews may be held with the student(s), the threat maker(s), parents, and staff to determine the level of risk and develop an appropriate response to the incident. Intervention plans will be developed and shared with parents, staff, and students as required.
Please note that Penticton Christian School embraces a “zero tolerance” approach for not reporting violent threat behavior (staff and students).
Currently, Penticton Christian School’s Threat AssessmentTeam consists of the Principal, Mr. Karl Boehmer, the Vice-Principal, Mr. Rod Gray, the K-2 teacher, Mrs. Stephanie Waterman, as well as the RCMP."
ERASE - Expect Respect & A Safe Education The BC Ministry of Education has created an anonymous online reporting tool which can be found at: https://erasereportit.gov.bc.ca/. This online resource provides information for students, parents, and educators on topics such as online safety, mental health and well-being, bullying and violence, substance use, as well as sexual orientation and gender identity. It includes a Get Help section for students and students can use the tool to send a direct message to their school.