A Montreal area mother is upset after she says her son’s school neglected to notify her of alleged threats made against her teen.
The incident dates back to Oct. 26 at Kells Academy in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
The threats allegedly said that “he will shoot my grandson and he will shoot me, the grandmother, because he knows I take him to school,” the grandmother told Global News.
Global News is not identifying the family to protect all parties involved.
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The grandmother says she now feels vulnerable when she drops her grandson off at school.
“It’s sad, it hurts. I fear… not just for me, my grandson,” the grandmother says.
But what the family says they find the most upsetting is that the school didn’t tell them about the incident.
According to the family, they only learned about it a week later when they received an unexpected call.
“I got a phone call around noon from a police officer, the Montreal police, stating that my son got threatened,” said the mother.
Montreal police (SPVM) confirmed to Global News that an investigation is underway. In an email they wrote that a suspect was arrested on Tuesday and was released the same day with certain conditions.
“Nobody knew about that in school, nobody, nobody,” said the mother. “The call came from an anonymous call (to police) from a staff in the school stating this happened a week ago and nothing…it’s not normal that nothing happened and the child is still attending school.”
Global News was unable to verify the call came anonymously from a school staff member.
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The mother says the owner of the school told her the incident was handled internally and that they didn’t see the need to notify police.
The family says the school should have been more transparent.
“How many other things is Kells hiding? What if something did happen? There’s that big what if? She’s told me on the recording: ‘Well, my guidance counselor would’ve been wrong’,” the mother alleged.
The family says the school’s policy needs to change.
“I dropped him, I left him in charge, in somebody’s hands, you’re responsible for my kid, my grandkid in school. He wasn’t safe,” said the grandmother.
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In a statement to Global News, the school said that at the time of the event, the school counselor who has worked with the student involved was able to assess and address the situation.
“Based on her professional opinion and that of the staff members directly involved, the safety of our community was not believed to be at risk,” wrote the school’s owner Irene Woods.
“We can assure you that we are working in full cooperation with the police to ensure that they are provided with all the relevant information needed to further assess the situation.”
