School board statement about situation at CASS

NEWS RELEASE

ALGOMA DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

************************* The Algoma District School Board (ADSB) would like to advise parents that Central Algoma Secondary School (CASS) will be open for a regular scheduled school day tomorrow, Friday April 24, following an incident that required the school to be on alert today.

Director of Education Mario Turco confirmed that an ADSB support staff employee [allegedly] uttered threats.

The threats are being taken seriously by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the school board.

The safety of all students and staff is foremost and in taking all precautions, the school was on alert for the afternoon, meaning students and staff were not permitted to leave or re-enter the building.

The school was not on "lock down."

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Turco tells SooToday.com that the Algoma District School Board defines 'lock down' as a situation in which students are confined to their classrooms and not permitted to leave, even to use the washrooms. In this case, CASS students were confined within the school, but were not rigidly restricted to their classrooms.)

The ADSB assures staff, students and parents that the school is safe and operations will continue as usual.

Further information will be provided as needed.

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