A discussion of gender-based harassment and rape culture at NWSS turned explosive at a New Westminster school board meeting on Tuesday night – so much so that the board took the unusual step of issuing a public statement after the fact.
“Gender-based harassment and violence is something we take exceptionally seriously, at all levels of our organization,” school board chair Gurveen Dhaliwal said in the statement, released on Thursday afternoon. “As we have been doing, we will continue to ensure that students have safe and supportive opportunities to share their concerns and thoughts.”
The issue arose during a public comment period at SD40’s April 26 board meeting, when New Westminster Secondary School student Sophie Hansen shared an update on the work of the school’s SEAS (Safety, Education, Advocacy and Support) group.
The group, formerly called SIS (Safety in Schools), was formed last year after a group of students launched a petition calling for action on sexual harassment of female students at the high school.
“Our school is full of girls who’ve been forced into uncomfortable situations, been harassed, disrespected, touched, victim blamed, and we’re tired of it,” the petition said, in part.
Hansen and fellow student Makena Thomas – who initiated the petition in April 2021 – told the board they’d received good support from staff and administration in the immediate aftermath of the petition but said the support has since declined.
“It did dwindle out over time, but the accusations and the cases did not,” Hansen said.
Dhaliwal told the students it would be more appropriate to move the discussion off-line, bringing student comments to a close. She promised them associate superintendent Maryam Naser would meet with administration at the high school to reignite the conversation and that students would hear more soon.
But the discussion wasn’t quite that simple.
Parent sounds alarm on ‘rape culture’ at NWSS
The board also found itself under fire from parent Kathleen Carlsen, who told trustees she’d only recently learned about the “rape culture” at the high school.
“Our students need to be protected. They need to feel they can go to school without the fear of being assaulted. They need counsellors, but above all they need help, and they need response when they do ask for help. They’re dealing with trauma, and they do need support,” she said.
Trustee Mary Lalji also jumped into the fray, making a motion that the board meet with the students as soon as possible to continue the discussion.
“This is extremely upsetting, and this needs a conversation now,” she said.
Dhaliwal, however, stressed repeatedly that the board wasn’t rejecting the students’ call for a discussion. She said a public board meeting that was being broadcast live was not the “safe space” needed for a discussion about sexual assault and rape culture.
Trustee Maya Russell questioned why she hadn’t heard anything about these particular concerns during an NWSS student symposium she’d attended the previous week.
“I certainly hope that adults are not fearmongering and playing politics with the safety of high school students and with the culture of our high school, because that would be very irresponsible and deeply upsetting,” she said. “I am very concerned with what I am hearing from students.”
Trustee Dee Beattie, who seconded Lalji’s motion to allow discussion to take place, said she didn’t support the motion and hoped the other board members would vote against it.
“This is such a sensitive issue, and it doesn’t belong in public,” she said. “The students deserve to have this conversation offline, private, where their names aren’t being tweeted out live.”
Beattie said the issue deserved “a very serious followup” but said that would happen without a motion.
Lalji’s motion didn’t receive any support from other trustees.
Conflict is 'counterproductive' to ending sexual harassment: Student Voice rep
But students at the meeting didn’t stop there.
Grace, who identified herself by first name only, responded to trustees’ suggestions that a public board meeting was the wrong place for a discussion of such issues.
“I think it’s important that the board respect the autonomy of students in choosing to come here and engage. We are not forced to come here and have these conversations; we have chosen to have these conversations,” she said. “We want to come here because we want to voice our concerns in this environment specifically.”
Sam Killawee, an NWSS Student Voice representative, said it was unfortunate the whole discussion had become “conflict-based.”
“It is counterproductive to the goals of ending sexual harassment and rape culture,” he said. “Conversations at the board that leave students wondering whether the board listens to students, rather than about what the students said and what can be done, are ineffective.”
Student safety 'paramount': SD40 board chair issues followup statement
On Thursday, April 28, the board issued its public statement.
The statement acknowledges the concerns raised by students a year ago about “patterns of sexual harassment and assaults that were impacting students and their sense of safety.”
“Appropriately, these concerns were taken seriously by the board, by district staff and by leadership and staff at the school. School administrators have continued to work with staff and students to address immediate needs (and with other stakeholders, where appropriate) and have worked to create educational opportunities to address the attitudes and patterns that can lead to harassment and assault – including but not limited to staff workshops, high-profile guest speakers for students, and peer-to-peer engagement around these issues,” it says.
“We heard that some students are disappointed by the pace of this work and are looking for renewed engagement from administration. That is valuable feedback for us as a board to hear, so we can help to ensure that student safety and needs are being appropriately met.”
The statement says comments from a “limited number of non-student participants” at the meeting were “misleading and took the conversation in a challenging direction.”
It also notes that the associate superintendent has met with administration and staff at the school already and will be working with them, the students and “other relevant stakeholders” to delve more deeply into whatever else may need to be done.
“Student safety – both physical and emotional – is paramount to our concerns as a board. And we look forward to hearing how these deeper conversations have continued,” the statement concludes.
You can find a full text of the school board statement online.
Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, jmaclellan@newwestrecord.ca.
