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The Prairie South and Holy Trinity Catholic School Divisions renewed their Community Threat Assessment & Support Protocol agreement with community partners on Oct. 24 — the protocol provides guidelines for assessing threat levels, responding appropriately, and creating a plan for improvement.
Community partners include the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS), Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Briercrest College, the Ministry of Social Services, Mental Health and Addictions Services, and the Ministry of Corrections and Policing.
“The last time that our protocol had been signed was in 2018, so today was an opportunity to get the main partners together to get their signatures on to this to make it official for the safety of our community,” explained Brad Moser, chair of the threat assessment and safety team at Holy Trinity Catholic School Division (HTCSD).
“The whole protocol is based on assessing levels of concern. We do Level 1 training citywide and in this whole region, where we train our people to talk about baseline behaviours: When should we be concerned with what we’re seeing from an individual, a student, a community member? ... What supports does this person need so that we can reduce those baselines and make sure everybody is safe.”
Moser clarified that the Community Threat Assessment and Support Protocol is not teachers being trained to physically restrain students, how staff respond to an active threat in the school, or if there’s an immediate threat to life — in those cases, 911 is called.
The protocol is about the days, weeks, and months leading up to any threat of violence — including social stresses, family situations, emotional disturbances, and suicidality.
“It allows each of the agencies to work together to provide supports to families and students that need that extra help,” explained Ward Strueby, HTCSD’s director of education. He said it can apply to anyone who might be showing concerning behaviours or changes in behaviour, including staff, community members, and family. However, the school divisions are mostly concerned with students.
“In terms of our use, it’s almost 100 per cent geared towards students. If we see any elevated levels of risk, we do an initial assessment within our organization, and then if we see enhanced risk, we work with the Moose Jaw city police, then we move to the community table."
“At its best, it’s an early-warning system,” explained Chief Rick Bourassa from the Moose Jaw Police Service. “When there isn’t an early warning and there’s an actual critical incident that’s happening, we have a rule to move immediately to take steps for the community’s safety. ... But those times when it’s a sudden incident, that’s very, very rare.
“This is a proactive mechanism to address potential threats and to bring our investigative skills to the table when it’s required ... by identifying individuals who may need supports and ensuring the proper resources are in place.”
The protocol can be read in the Safe Schools Handbook, available on the Prairie South and HTCSD websites.