Kootenay Lake superintendent Jeff Jones took some time out of Tuesday night’s board meeting to express his condolences to the families those killed and injured in last week’s school shooting in northern Saskatchewan.
“We wish to express our deepest sympathies to La Loche following these tragic events,” he said. “La Loche isn’t a big metropolitan centre. It’s a small community at the end of Highway 155 up in Canada’s boreal forest. This is not the kind of place you think about these events happening.”
“On top of that: it happened in Canada. That adds to the depth and impact and effect this has had throughout Canada, on our school district and our province.”
Nelson District Teachers’ Association president Paul Boscariol also acknowledged the tragedy, saying it’s important for the district to reflect whenever an event like this happens.
“This affects all of us,” he said.
The 17-year-old shooter charged with fatally shooting four people and wounding several others remains in custody. He was reportedly bullied before going on the spree and lacked mental health and psychiatric support.
Jones noted one current employee of SD8 formerly worked at that school in La Loche, making the tragedy seem even closer to home.
“We’re having a real difficult time understanding why this would happen,” Jones said.
Jones said school administrators consider having an appropriate response to these potential events crucial.
Nelson police do lockdown drills every year, as reported recently by the Star, and all SD8 schools have doors that lock automatically upon closing.