WHY AREN’T WE TALKING MORE ABOUT SECURITY IN OUR SCHOOLS?

Believe it or not, school security in Saint Lucia is a far greater problem than mold infestation, horrid as that is. In the past month both the St Aloysius R.C. Boys’ and the Ave Maria Infant Schools had either staff or students being threatened on compound. Two weeks ago, the parent of a student who attends the St. Aloysius R.C. Boys’ Infant School threatened students at the school, so seriously that the police had to be brought in.  

A member of the school’s PTA told the STAR: “Threats were being posed to our children and we feared for their lives. The principal and the teachers have done their best. So now we, as parents, must take a stand.”

Another source informed this reporter that the parent who issued the threat, not satisfied with the disciplinary measures taken against students who had hit his son, took matters into his own hands and threatened their lives. The source also informed us that there was no security guard assigned to the school before the incident occurred. “Not even a watchman.” Since the last incident, however, the ministry has provided some security.

In late October, threats of a similar nature occurred on two separate occasions at the Ave Maria Infant School. This time teachers were the ones threatened—by parents. A source at the school informed the STAR that both incidents were reported to the police, who have confirmed that a warning was issued in one of the matters and that the perpetrator in the second incident has been arrested and charged.  

A city constable has been assigned to guard the front gate when school begins and when it’s dismissed. Parents now drop off their children at the gate and pick them up from there, to ensure the safety of staff and students. 

But there is not wall-to-wall support for this measure. According to our source, even the constable at the gate has suffered verbal abuse from some parents. 

Security concerns at schools are nothing new. In January, a secondary school student was found with a firearm on school premises. The incident was widely reported. The last we heard was that the police were investigating. In February, it was reported that an intruder had frightened staff and students at the Camille Henry Memorial School. Since then, silence. Yesterday there was another shooting at an American school. Hopefully it will not take such an incident to move the authorities to protect staff and students now altogether exposed and vulnerable!