Letter to Parents regarding Hold and Secure Nov 2

At the end of the day today, all Barrhead Composite High School and Barrhead Elementary School students received a letter to parents from Superintendent David Garbutt. If you did not receive the letter, you can view it below or in the attached PDF.

November 2, 2018

Open Letter to Parents and Students of Barrhead Composite High School and Barrhead Elementary School

Prior to school starting today, Barrhead RCMP contacted Pembina Hills Public Schools to advise that a potential threat to safety had been made naming Barrhead Composite High School.

As an immediate precaution, students and staff at both Barrhead Composite High School and Barrhead Elementary School were secured in areas within the school and the RCMP were dispatched to the schools.

This procedure is known as hold and secure. Hold and secure is used when there is a threat, but the threat is not on or close to school property.

Within a short period of time, the RCMP advised that the situation was under control and the additional security was lifted.

Student safety is our first priority. At no time were students in either school under an immediate risk of harm. If your children have questions, please reassure them that that the RCMP and the school worked together to deal with the situation and ensure they were safe.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please call me at 780-674-8507 or send me an email at david.garbutt@phpschools.ca.

Sincerely,

David Garbutt
Superintendent of Schools

cc: Barrhead Detachment, RCMP


This is the official release from the Barrhead RCMP – Nov 2, 2018 at 4:45 pm

For Immediate Release:

Nov. 2, 2018

Barrhead RCMP respond to possible threat at school

Barrhead, Alberta – This morning at approximately 7:50 a.m., Barrhead RCMP responded to a report of potential threat to safety at the Barrhead Composite School.

Administration at both Barrhead Composite High school and Barrhead Elementary School, in collaboration with the RCMP and the Pembina Hills School Division initiated a hold and secure at the school as a precaution. Students in the school remained in class. This procedure is a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of students, and parents were notified.

The RCMP investigated, and found information was passed along via social media which was deemed untrue and police were not notified until the next day.

The RCMP takes safety at schools seriously and will continue to investigate incidents as reported. We would like to hear from parents as soon as possible when a safety concern is brought to their attention before posts are made online.

RCMP are confident that there is no ongoing cause for alarm and no further information will be provided about this incident.

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Media Contact:
Corporal Ronald Bumbry
EAD – Media Relations Officer
780-645-8880

Posted on: November 2nd, 2018