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No Buzzer

Monday, 3 February 2014 05:45

TVDSB Chair says a piece of equipment doesn't compensate for the supervision of a caring and professional adult.

A program that would have seen parents being buzzed in to their child's elementary school will not be going forward in Oxford County.

The Thames Valley District School Board voted against the Safe Community Program in all of their 134 elementary schools late last month

Chair of the Board Ruth Tisdale says the decision was made based on a survey conducted with school councils and parents back in the spring.

"There was a slim, you can't even use the word majority but percentage of parents that were opposed to implementing the program but not a clear result one way or the other. There were a lot of undecided, there was some for, some against. There was a lot of very good discussion around the issue."

She says a piece of equipment doesn't compensate for the supervision of a caring and professional adult.

"There were a lot of concerns around the potential to create a sense of false security. There was a lot of concerns that locked doors and buzz in systems is not welcoming in any way. One of the trustees likened it to visiting a jail."

"Each school has the opportunity to take a look at their safety and if parents have concerns they should be discussing that with their principals. We believe that we have the appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure the safety of our students and that we want to ensure our schools are welcoming environments."

The board had received more than $415,000 from the province for the program, but would have had to pay an additional $514,000 to implement it.  Tisdale expects the Province will want that money returned.

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