Students in Halifax are growing weary after a number of bomb threats made against local schools in recent days.
Mariah Desmarais, a Grade 12 student at Millwood High School in Lower Sackville — one of three schools dismissed early Tuesday due to threats — said the incidents have been disruptive to her learning.
“It’s definitely a struggle trying to go to class and have everybody sitting there talking about it,” she said. “It’s very stressful, anxiety-ridden. Makes it hard to want to come to school.”
Desmarais said threats were made against the school both Monday and Tuesday this week. She wants them to stop.
“Having to worry every single day … about what’s going to happen, is there going to be another threat, is it actually going to be true — is very scary,” she said.
“I really hope that it all goes away and people stop messing around, just trying to get a free day off of school.”
Fellow Grade 12 student Kayden Clark said school closures and evacuations are especially disruptive for students who are about to graduate.
“We need to be at school to learn and get the credit and be able to graduate,” she said. “I’m feeling quite anxious about it because again, we don’t know if it’s true.”
Jayden Joly, a Grade 10 student at Millwood, said he doesn’t feel safe coming to school.
“They might find it funny,” he said of whoever made the threats. “I don’t think it’s funny … it’s very scary for a lot of people, especially my parents.
“School should be a safe place.”
More threats Wednesday
In addition to Millwood High, Tuesday’s closures also affected Halifax West High School and Park West School in Halifax. Threats had been written on paper or on bathroom stall doors, school officials said.
On Wednesday, Halifax Regional Centre for Education spokesperson Lindsey Bunin said another two schools — Sackville Heights Junior High and Fairview Junior High — also had bomb threats directed toward them earlier in the day.
“They immediately called police and out of an abundance of caution, the schools were evacuated, and typical fire drill protocols were followed while the risk assessment took place,” Bunin said in a statement.
“Once assessments were complete, the threats were deemed unfounded. School routines continued as usual. Families have been notified.”
In a letter sent to parents and guardians late Tuesday afternoon, HRCE’s regional executive director, Steve Gallagher, said there have been “many bomb threats” over the past month directed at schools.
“While all threats are taken seriously, these recent instances have been unfounded and incredibly disruptive,” he explained.
He added that the threats have created “fear, anxiety and worry,” as well as “(diverted) emergency services from our community.”
Halifax Regional Police spokesperson Const. John MacLeod said police have investigated a “number of threats” directed at Halifax-area high schools in recent days.
In the last month, police responded to eight bomb threats at schools in the HRM, and a total of 12 threats so far this year. For comparison, there were seven for all of last year.
“With these incidents and the frequency of which they’re occurring, it starts to pull our resources away from other issues where we’re needed as well,” he said.
MacLeod said no charges have been laid in relation to the threats, but they remain under investigation. He noted that police do not believe the incidents are related.
‘Kids aren’t always getting what they need’
In an interview, Nova Scotia Teachers’ Union Ryan Lutes said many students, parents, and school staff are feeling “uneasy” about the recent threats.
“Teachers and kids are worried about their safety. Bomb threats are not a new phenomenon, but the number of them certainly seems very concerning,” he said.
Lutes said schools in Nova Scotia are becoming more complicated and less safe, and students aren’t being adequately supported and supervised.
“The culture at our schools is different than it was, and it’s more negative because we know that kids aren’t always getting what they need, and the system’s not giving teachers what they need to support those students,” he said.
“I don’t want to be opportunistic and say more staff would have solved this and would have prevented it, but in general, more supports for our schools would create a better culture in our schools. And I think if we had a better culture, a more productive, more positive one, folks are going to be less likely to make threats like these.”