We The People are officially calling on NLSchools & The Department of Education to act immediately, swiftly, openly & honestly.

It is the opinion of the undersigned that the above named entities have failed, and continue to fail, to address any genuine issues or concerns of parents, caregivers & teachers in the province of NL - aka We The People -, in any meaningful way. Adversely, and also the opinion of the undersigned, NLSchools & the Department of Education actively continue to do the very opposite. This is evidenced through countless stories of We The People, official communications that have previously been sent home to parents on behalf of the aforementioned, and simple basic math through statistics.

We need leaders who will listen to us and take action - not intimidate us into silence. We need leaders who will listen to our educators - not intimidate them into silence. Speaking out on genuine issues should be encouraged, not suppressed. These tactics of bullying and intimidation undermine the democratic society we live in.

THE NUMBERS DON'T LIE!

     - For the 2023-24 school year, there was a 29% *increase* in physical, violent attacks over the previous year.
     
     - The RNC were called to respond to 178 incidents in 2023-24, up from 111 the previous year.

     - The daily average of violent & physical reported incidents has increased from 20 to 22.
     
     - According to NLTA president, Trent Landon, roughly 20% of students in this province are going to school with a weapon. Not necessarily for violence, but for protection.

When recently pressed for an answer on these issues, and for answers to We The People's own stories being shared online, Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell stated that the departments approach to violence prevention in schools focuses on social-emotional learning and self-regulation to prevent reactionary behaviour and limit violence.

We have long passed the threshold for "deep breaths" and "time-outs". It's time for our government to call a time-out, and hold people accountable.

Together, we are taking a stand, and shouting our message loud and clear: SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE!

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Changes to multiple NLSchools' policies, including, but not limited to:

     - secure school protocols: parents/caregivers should be informed of the general nature of an inducing event, and notified of actions taken by the school. this can be easily achieved with privacy in mind. in the event of a violent incident, additional counselling resources (or similar) should be made available to students 

     - bullying & accountability: parents & caregivers of victims should be made aware of punitive actions taken against their "bully", and next steps of action should be clearly outlined & communicated to all parties, in case it should it continue or further escalate.

     - open door policy: two-tier system which allows teachers/faculty/admin & parents/caregivers to report genuine concerns within the system. all concerns should be publicly visible from the host website, with NLSchools required to publicly respond to each of them. Each school should have one single "login" that caters to their entire faculty, which eliminates the fear of retaliation against teachers for speaking up.

     - first aid: NLSchools should require all teachers, faculty, admin, and any other staff to have completed First Aid Certification consistent with what is required of Early Childhood Educators and school-bus drivers.

     - ratio requirements: should be revised, and remain consistent with what is required of regulated Childcare facilities.

     - social worker oversight: again, and in consistency with what is imposed against regulated Childcare facilities, schools should be subjected to the same unannounced visits, scrutiny, and publicly available documentation.

     - public oversight: a formed committee of volunteers, including the author of this petition, to challenge issues and be a voice for parents & caregivers. At a minimum, a bi-monthly in-person meeting should occur, and include: the public committee, leadership of NLSchools, and representatives of the Dept of Education.

     - hiring needs: it's no secret that our schools are bursting at the seams, many of them operating at twice the capacity in which they were designed. we are requesting a proportional increase in resources. common sense dictates that if our student bodies double, the available resources should also double.

     - specialist hiring needs: our guidance counsellors should not be the departments solution to all "problems" within our schools. they do not have the same training as a registered psychologist. they are also overburdened. to reiterate, Dept Minister Howell stated that the departments approach to violence prevention in schools focuses on social-emotional learning and self-regulation to prevent reactionary behaviour and limit violence. because of Ms. Howell's own statements and focuses, we are requesting the immediate hiring of Social Skill Behavioural Specialists, aka psychiatrists, to aid Ms Howell in achieving her goal in keeping our schools safe.

     - expansion of CDLI for problem students: Expand CDLI to provide an online education for students who are CONSISTENT behaviour issues in classrooms in the k-12 system (specifically referring to those who are in and out of the criminal justice system, time and time again, and have proven to be a genuine threat/menace to their peers) impacting the learning and lives of their peers and classroom educators. ALL students deserve an education but NOT ALL STUDENTS can be, or even should be, in the traditional classroom setting.

Further, We The People are requesting that Mr. Paul Dinn, Official Opposition Critic for Education and for Children & Youth Family Services, present this petition on behalf of We The People at the next House of Assembly meeting.

If you are a Concerned Parent, Caregiver or Teacher in NL, please join the conversation online!

KEY DECISION MAKERS YOU SHOULD CONTACT IN SUPPORT OF THIS PETITION:

     - Andrew Furey, Premier of NL:

AndrewFurey@gov.nl.ca & premier@gov.nl.ca

     - Krista Lynn Howell, Minister of Education:

KristaLynnHowell@gov.nl.ca

     - Terry Hall, Superintendent of Schools:

TerryHall@nlschools.ca