Nova Scotia rolls out new code of conduct to make schools safer

Nova Scotia has released a new code of conduct aimed at making schools safer.

The provincial government released a new School Code of Conduct for students and staff in Nova Scotia.

Minister of Education Brendan Maguire calls the new code of conduct “stronger” than the previous policy and will help make schools safer by laying out clearly defined acceptable and unacceptable student behaviour.

“The update of the code of conduct ensures that all members of school communities, administrators, teachers, families and students, understand expectations and know there are consequences for actions that disrupt learning,” said Maguire, the minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.

The new code of conduct replaces the old policy that was last updated in 2015. It now includes guidance and standard consequences and responses to an array of issues that might arise.

The updated policy includes an incident and decision matrix that clearly outline any directions to school administrators and staff on how to respond to incidents, as well as appropriate consequences, to ensure consistency across the board.

The province says these updates will make schools safer by including direct protocols and consequences for issues like physical violence, bullying and cyberbullying, racism, and sexual harassment and misconduct.

“We consulted extensively with school staff and other experts to arrive at a tool that gives clear, consistent direction and has the power to keep distractions and dangerous behaviours out of our schools.”

Until now, educators had little guidance on how to handle disruptive behavior and what consequences were required, but the revised code includes a matrix to help schools respond with consistency.

“Consistency is the name of the game,” said Tracey Barbrick, the deputy minister with the Department of Education. “We don’t want an issue that comes up in Truro to be handled differently that an instance in Yarmouth.”

Peter Day, president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, welcomed the updated code saying violent incidents are on the rise and occur every day across the province.

“We have violent incidences that are occurring right across the province,” said Day “And they are happening in our elementary schools all the way up to our high schools.”

The new code of conduct takes effect in September, and although the union supports it, they want to know more about the rollout plan. Day argues this code is part of making schools safer but so is investing in human resources inside the schools.

“That involves having resource teachers, school psychologists, speech language pathologists, all these specialists that help meet the need of students and ultimately having smaller classroom sizes,” said Day.

The province says a development plan is in the works to get staff and administrators up to date by September.

A professional development campaign will begin to update staff and students on the new policy and the code of conduct will be fully implemented in September to start the new school year.

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