Another Tragedy

I was so sad to learn about the stabbing at Dunbarton H. S. in Pickering today. It's  only events like these that make me nervous about being an Administrator. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have your school in lockdown with a real threat within the building. I cannot imagine the pressure that principal must have felt to keep his students and staff safe. 9 injuries were sustained as a result of this event and I might have lost my mind with guilt that something like this happened on my watch.  And the media attention??? No one wants this kind of notoriety for their school. This Admin team is going to need a lot of support in the days ahead as they regroup and attempt to return to a normal routine. I just heard that classes will be resuming tomorrow with counselling being provided. Not sure that I would have made that call. I think I get some of the reasons why classes would resume immediately- no one wants a community to be paralyzed by fear or grief and the anxiety that comes with such a traumatic event. I just think some processing time is in order.

Then there is the matter of the very young lady in the middle of this tragedy. Did anyone see it coming? If not, what was missed or not shared with the school? How many more ticking time bombs are sitting in classrooms across the province? How many more random stacks need to take place before someone e publicly acknowledged that Ontario schools have some very sick children in attendance with issues that are beyond the scope of the education system to address? Maybe I'm being dramatic, I don't know. I guess I become more unnerved the more stories I read about and get reported. I'm sad for these kids. I'm sad for their parents. I'm sad for the schools charged with the task of supporting these students with insufficient resources. 

Many prayers to the families of the Dunbarton community tonight and in the days ahead...