THUNDER BAY — The St. Patrick High School community is reacting to a concerning new trend at the school, which has received six threats in the last month.
With various hold-and-secure situations, along with multiple threats that have led to students and teachers being released for the day, it's had a serious impact on the student body and its growing workload.
Carsyn Ongaro, a grade 11 student at the south side Catholic high school, called the recent events stressful.
"I don't think it's fair for it to be affecting everyone, and it's affecting [school] work," she said in an interview. "Exams are coming up in January, and missing these days is hard, and I think it's gonna catch up to us, especially if it keeps happening."
It's hard to take the threats seriously when they happen so often, she added.
"It just feels very much like people are kind of throwing out the threats loosely,"
In all the recent incidents, except for Wednesday's, teachers and students were sent home as a precaution.
As a parent of another grade 11 student at St. Pat's, Maeghan Tofinetti said her daughter's school work is piling up. While her daughter does well academically, Toffinetti said it puts a lot on her plate, even when students get released for the day.
"She's laid out all the work she has to do for the next week and a half, and it's a lot."
Toffinetti noted it's also the time of year when students are applying to post-secondary institutions, and their grades still matter to colleges and universities.
The mother of two also touched on how the threats against the school impact what is a safe space for many students.
"School might be the only place for some students to have a warm place to be, to get something to eat, to talk to someone," she said.
Toffinetti did make it clear that the way the incidents are being handled by authorities has helped ease the stress of the situation.
"At no point have I felt unsafe," she said. " [Police and the TBCDSB] are handling these exactly as they should be."
She also gave a nod to local media in providing concise and timely information and not fear-mongering.
In echoed sentiments, both Toffinetti and Ongaro noted the continuous incidents aren't fair to the school's population.
Carlo Cappello, president of the local Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) secondary school unit. called the latest incidents part of a larger increase in threats and acts of violence in schools, and called on the province to help.
"Our provincial government needs to immediately and dramatically enhance mental health services in schools and in our communities," he said in a statement.
"We need more professional resources, such as counsellors, social workers, and child and youth workers, to adequately support our students' mental health and well-being."
Capello is asking the Ford government to see the severity of the issue and to act quickly.
