By Cheryl Bauslaugh, Expositor Staff
Local News - Wednesday, August 23, 2006 @ 01:00
Angry parents lashed out at Catholic school board officials on Tuesday, saying they dont feel its safe to send their children to Notre Dame School.
Despite board plans for more police, more staff and a six-foot fence at the back of the school which adjoins the disputed Douglas Creek Estates property parents said they dont want to take a chance with their kids safety.
I find it unfathomable that you would roll the dice with our children, said Carol Edwards, who has two children at the school.
Director of education Theresa Harris told a crowd of about 250 people gathered in the schools gymnasium that the school is safe for students.
We would not be holding classes in this building if we did not think it was safe, she said.
But parents fear that the often volatile relationship between native protesters and Caledonia residents could erupt into violence at any time and students might get caught in the crossfire.
There could be a mistake that happens from either side, Edwards said.
Principal Joe DiFrancesco said confrontations between natives and non-natives tend to take place after dark. He said there is no threat to students during the school day.
There has never, ever been a time when their safety has been compromised, he said.
But several parents at the meeting reported an incident in which students were verbally harassed by native protesters.
Harris said the board would set up a portable school at another site if it felt Notre Dame was no longer safe for students. Many in the crowd urged the board to do that now.
Rocks may be thrown, guns may go off, and theyre going to be behind a six-foot fence, said one woman, who plans to keep her children at home.
Pressed about where the board could house the schools 500 students, Harris admitted there arent many options. Some students could transfer to St. Patricks, at the other end of town, but the school of 350 students doesnt have room for everybody. The public board might also take some students but again, space is limited, especially with the new push to decrease the size of primary classes.
One parent asked why the board wouldnt look at moving students into nearby Seneca Unity School, which was closed by the Grand Erie District School Board last year. But Harris said the school is serving as the OPPs command post. And with six classrooms, its much too small to hold all of Notre Dames students.
That leaves the option of home-schooling, which isnt practical for many.
I want my children out of this situation and I cant afford to stay home and home-school, said Mitzi Turner-Beechey. Please give us another option.
One man in the audience said his fears would vanish if the protesters moved off the disputed land during negotiations. Another suggested that a buffer zone between the school and the protest site would allay some fears.
But many felt students should be moved out of the school in the meantime. One woman asked Harris whether the board would change its position if 300 of the schools 500 students didnt show up on the first day of school.
Yes, wed reconsider, Harris said.
After the meeting, Edwards said she doesnt know what shell do on the first day of school.
Im not sure. Im going to think through everything that happened here tonight.
She said the period between March and June was the worst time of my life, as she worried about the safety of her children on a daily basis.
Six months later, the uncertainty over what could happen is still there.
Im not worried about natives on ATVs roaring down the hallways, she said. Im worried about a mistake, an accident. Ipperwash was an accident and someone got killed.