N.S. gets failing grade for dealing with school-based violence

Incidents of violence in Nova Scotia schools have increased 60 per cent over the last seven years, up from 17,000 to 26,000 reported cases since 2017, according to Kim Adair, the province’s auditor general.

The findings show nearly half of those incidents are occurring within the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE). More than 18 per cent of reported violent incidents over the last seven years had no record of any action taken by school administration

Adair says the situation now requires a more focused effort not evident in the current Code of Conduct policy.

“There’s no cohesive approach to preventing and addressing violence in schools and it shows – right from the weaknesses in the School Code of Conduct all the way to the lack of action on reported incidents,” says Adair.

The audit points to weaknesses in the reliability and accuracy of school violence data, which means the number of cases could be even higher because some events go unreported. The method of collecting the data does not identify if a student or educator is repeatedly impacted by violence.

“Training and prevention have not kept pace with the rising number of violent incidents in public schools, resulting in educators who feel unprepared to deal with it,” Adair says. "The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development does not have a strategy to address violence in schools."

Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair is pictured. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)

Adair points to the need for educators — which includes teachers and teacher assistants — to have a healthy and safe workplace. They cite several possibilities for the sharp rise in violence, including increasingly diverse and complex student needs.

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Becky Druhan says preventing and addressing violence in schools is a priority for the government. She notes they have started work to:

• update the Provincial School Code of Conduct Policy
• improve the collection of incident data, ensuring processes support just culture, prompt reporting and effective action in response to violence in schools
• develop a new student behaviour strategy that includes strengthened supports for social emotional learning, helping to proactively address root causes of unacceptable behaviours including violence.

“As good data helps us make the best decisions, in November, I wrote directly to teachers encouraging them to report every intentional and unintentional incident of unacceptable behaviour, including violent behaviours,” Druhan said in a written statement. “The Department is working urgently and has already made progress that aligns closely with the recommendations from the Office of the Auditor General. This alignment helps confirm we – along with our safe school leadership table partners from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and Public School Administrators Association of Nova Scotia – are moving in the right direction.

"I also agree with the Office of the Auditor General that parents, guardians and the wider community play an essential role in keeping violence out of schools.”

Ryan Lutes, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, said they have raised concerns about school violence for the last two years, claiming the amount of incidents are underreported.

"I think teachers are going to feel vindicated by this (report) and with that vindication there's a bit of frustration because we have been advocating about this, we have been trying to call attention to violence in our schools and so we are happy that the auditor general has done that," Lutes says.

As part of the audit, Adair and her team visited more than half a dozen schools – chosen for their locations, sizes, and levels of violence – and interviewed dozens of staff, including principals, teachers, and teacher assistants.

In addition to conducting a province-wide survey of all educators in Nova Scotia, the Auditor General and her team performed more detailed work at the HRCE and Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP).

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.