Battleford Central School. (Google Maps)

By Angela Brown

Parents upset

Living Sky responds to incident after child hit by airsoft gun projectile

Mar 4, 2023 | 9:02 AM

Living Sky School Division (LSSD) is responding to a recent incident in which a child was inadvertently hit by an airsoft gun projectile at Battleford Central School (BCS) on Feb. 15.

The school division sent a notice to all parents of BCS about how the matter was addressed on Friday.

On the morning of Feb. 15 two students were playing with airsoft guns they brought to school, while on the playground during recess. According to the school division, one of the projectiles from the guns ended up deflecting and hit another student. The airsoft guns were then taken away from the two students. However, the airsoft guns were given back to them when they boarded the school bus at the end of the day, although they did not use them again.

A concerned parent, who reached out to battlefordsNOW, said more action should have been taken by the school division.

He said he was aware the child who was shot by an airsoft gun’s projectile was hit in the face, close to the eye, and had a bruise. The parent said he believes there were other students in the area who were hit also. He questioned why the two students were given the guns back when they got on the school bus to go home at the end of the day, adding to the risk. He added that the child who was hit should have received medical attention or the parents should have been called, as he understands they were not. And he said the children with the airsoft guns should have been disciplined.

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“We’re really upset about the response from the school and the school board,” he said on Feb. 27. “No parents were notified… and the [division] policies were completely ignored. They [the students with the airsoft guns] shouldn’t have had them in the school in the first place, and if they did have them, they [the airsoft guns] shouldn’t be given back to them to take on the bus. That’s negligence right there.”

LSSD said in a statement on March 3 that the school division and the school have a strict no-weapons policy. “We take incidents of this nature very seriously. We have investigated the incident and appropriate actions have been taken,” the division said.

To remind all students about the dangers of bringing any kind of weapon to school, the school division plans to have an RCMP School Liaison Officer come to the school to speak to students.

LSSD Director of Education, Brenda Vickers, said she “wants to assure families we take safety very seriously.”

“We acknowledge that our communication in response to this incident has been slow,” she said in the statement. “We took time to review proper procedures with our staff to ensure mistakes that were made in reporting and dealing with the students in this matter do not happen in the future. Our schools continue to strive to create safe spaces that promote learning and a sense of belonging.”

The school division said details regarding the students involved in the incident cannot be shared for privacy reasons.

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW