In the wake of the recent shooting tragedies in Slocan and Ottawa, School District 8 staff and their community partners are working to implement an anti-violence and risk assessment strategy for the West Kootenay region. During a three-day training session at the Prestige Lakeside Resort, participants heard from Theresa Campbell, president of Safer Schools Together.

Campbell champions a multi-sectoral approach in which teachers, administrators and community partners such as the police and emergency personnel collaborate on identifying troubling behaviours and working to intervene before violent incidents occur. Campbell said many in the community aren’t familiar with the legislation surrounding when and if it’s appropriate to share information between agencies, and she’s hoping to address that.

“Our focus is on getting more data-driven assessments, whether we’re talking about bullying-based behaviour or violence-based behaviour, behaviour that resides in the homicidal or suicidal domain,” she said.

Read the full article on the Nelson Star website.