Kamloops-Thompson School District Supt. Rhonda Nixon signs a renewed risk assessment agreement on Oct. 3, 2024, five years after the first was put into place.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Schools, police and family support agencies are working together in Kamloops to address potentially violent students.

For five years they've had a formal agreement in place, re-signed this week with an emphasis on the need to monitor for problematic online behaviour among students. The agreement is now called the Behavioural and Digital Threat Assessment protocol.

"Social media knows no bounds, so it's not lost on us that we need to collaborate to understand the problem solving that needs to happen when there's a safety risk to our students or our staff in our buildings," school district superintendent Rhonda Nixon said.

Renamed from the Violent Threat Risk Assessment, School District 73 hosted a signing ceremony on Oct. 2 to formalize the agreement with the Ministry of Children and Family Development, Kamloops RCMP, Secwepemc Child and Family Services and the Metis support organization Lii Michif Otipemisiwak Child and Family Services.

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"The goal is to assess and understand the level of risk that's posed by certain behaviour or digital activities," Kamloops RCMP detachment commander Supt. Jeff Pelley said.

Threat assessments are spurred by reports about students who are showing potentially dangerous behaviour, whether online or in-person. It could include threats against specific people, against the school or themselves. The report, which can be anonymous, often comes from another student, a teacher or from the public. The risk is then graded on a three-level scale to determine how authorities might intervene.

The assessment process evolved in the five years since the first agreement was signed, but the renewed version formalizes how the parties work together to address worrisome behaviour online, as well as in person.

Michelle Mattes, assistant superintendent for inclusive education, said it's a "refinement" of what was already in place. While she said it might sound like a small change, it sets out "what we use in schools to identify worrisome behaviour, decided whether it's a threat and what level of threat it might be." 

Police are likely to be called for a the highest level threat, in which there is an immediate safety risk. Otherwise, it school administrators will likely work with family supports to intervene more proactively with the student.

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"At the end of the day, what our end result is, trying to keep students, staff and the community safe, but it is also really about getting supportive interventions for students in these situations," Mattes said. "Oftentimes it's a cry for help, and we can't help if we don't know."

Although the document was redrawn for the Oct. 2 signing, Nixon said it had constantly evolved in the five years previous as organizations worked out what did and did not work.

Asked whether the re-signing and new name represents a focus on a growing threat of online harms among students, Mattes said there may be an increase in reports of problematic or threatening online behaviour. But she added that it's difficult to know whether it's a growing problem among students or whether there are simply more reports.

Although RCMP are most likely to be called for an immediate threat at the highest risk level, it doesn't mean police are only called for scenarios that lockdown the school. Nixon said the school district might work with police liaisons during the assessment process, both helping police keep tabs on who could present threats going forward and to get advice on dealing with students while they're deemed lower-risk.

While the Ministry of Children and Families might be engaged to support a student, Indigenous organizations are also signed onto the program to provide specialized supports when necessary.

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