Overstepping a School District's Responsibility

Following the trap and kill urban deer cull in Cranbrook this January, DeerSafe has become aware that a letter signed by the Chair of School District #5, Frank Lento of Fernie, was sent to four Kootenay town councils and copied to several ministers and the Premier on February 10, 2016.

Bringing the deer hysteria in this province to a new level, the letter claims that “one of these incidents will culminate in student injury or casualty in the future.”

Provincial health and safety protocols are in place when human life is endangered by wildlife with a phone call to the Conservation Office. An incident at Eileen Madsen Primary School in Invermere indicates that the staff of at least one school in the district knew what to do, and Conservation Officers attended the school the next day.

“There have been three incidents where students were either brought indoors or moved to a different part of the playground because of deer not leaving the area, said Paul Carriere, superintendent for School District 6, stressing that the moves were made as precautionary measures, not because students were in any immediate danger.” (“Recess cancelled due to deer” Columbia Valley Pioneer, February 24, 2012).

Do the teachers and parents in School District #5 know that this letter was sent on their behalf? What is the status of the school district's public education regarding how students and staff should behave around ungulates? Has a notice gone out to parents advising them to talk to their children about feeding deer while at school?