Yukon ombudsman says territory's Safer Schools Action Plan doesn't go far enough

The Yukon ombudsman says the territory's Safer Schools Action Plan, developed after the education department failed to tell parents about sexual abuse at a Whitehorse school, isn't enough to prevent future communications failures.

Instead, the department needs to further clarify its internal processes, ombudsman Jason Pedlar wrote in a report released this week, so that its botched response to a sexual abuse case at Hidden Valley Elementary School doesn't happen again.

"Our concern was that a repeat could occur in the way that the Safer Schools Action Plan is written and laid out… There [is] still some ambiguity built within it," Pedlar said in an interview.

"We suggest and recommend that the department tighten it up to ensure a quick response, to ensure accountability and awareness of their policies and procedures."

The report is the second issued by the Yukon ombudsman on Hidden Valley, where an educational assistant was accused in late 2019 of inappropriately touching a student.

While the assistant was removed from the school, charged by police and later pleaded guilty to one count of sexual interference, the education department didn't inform parents about the case until 19 months later, after CBC News reported on a lawsuit filed by the victim.

A government-commissioned review in the wake of the scandal produced seven recommendations on how to better respond to serious incidents in schools. The government then created a 23-point action plan that it fully implemented last year.

Gaps could result in inaction, delay, lack of accountability

Pedlar's office undertook its own review after receiving a complaint that the time it took the department to tell Hidden Valley parents about the case was unfair. His first report, issued last fall, confirmed the government should have told parents much sooner and that the "inordinate delay" and "communication failure" resulted in, among other things, parents being denied the chance to talk to their children and get them help in a timely manner.

In this week's report, Pedlar looked at whether the 15 fairness-related actions in the government's plan adequately addressed the six fairness-related recommendations that came out of the commissioned review.

The actions included developing corporate guidance on inter-department communication and coordination for serious incidents at schools, and developing guidance on communicating with "stakeholders" and the public about criminal matters.

The recommendations, meanwhile, included implementing a policy for interdepartmental cooperation during "significant events" and providing better training and on-boarding for school and department staff.

Some of the actions were related to more than one recommendation, resulting in the ombudsman doing a total of 19 assessments.

The report concluded that while eight of the actions fully addressed a recommendation, five only did so partially and three did not fulfil a recommendation at all. The remaining three were deemed "inconclusive" due to a lack of relevant documentation.

Overall, Pedlar said he found that the government and education department had done a "reasonably good job" in implementing better training for staff. He had concerns, however, after taking a "granular look" at some of the other "processes and procedures." 
 
"We thought that there were some gaps and those gaps would create the opportunity for either inaction, delays in action, a lack of accountability," Pedlar said.

For example, the report noted that the "Yukon School Post-Incident Communication Guidance and Procedures" mentions coordinating briefings with other departments or agencies but doesn't lay out how that should be done. The title is also confusing — although guiding documents may be voluntarily followed, procedural documents must be  — and while one of the recommendations was to implement a policy or process for interdepartmental cooperation, the document is neither.

Pedlar admitted that "very detailed process" is "not that interesting to a lot of people," but said it was crucial for the government to function properly, particularly in crisis situations.

"It's important that …  employees know what they need to do in what circumstance and who is to be accountable — who is the decision maker, for example?" he said.

The report makes eight recommendations on how to fill in the gaps in the action plan, such as creating checklists for school and department staff to follow when it comes to reporting serious allegations and communicating with families afterwards. Another recommendation involves revising the existing Student Protection Policy to establish a clearer chain-of-command for communicating about serious incidents at school, such as requiring the deputy minister of education to sign off on final decisions about whether to inform parents about allegations of abuse against a student.

Pedlar has asked the government to provide a progress update on the implementation of his recommendations in six months.

Government accepted recommendations 'in principle'

Yukon Education Minister Jeanie McLean was not available for an interview on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

In a news release, she was quoted as saying that "there is nothing more important than the wellbeing, safety and protection of students when they are in our care"  and that the government accepts all of the ombudsman's recommendations "in principle."

"While we have made significant positive changes through the Safer Schools Action Plan, we know there is still more work to do to improve safety and security in Yukon schools," the news release reads. It says the ombudsman's recommendations "offer opportunities for us to strengthen and improve the work that has been completed."

Asked what accepting the recommendations "in principle" meant, cabinet spokesperson Jordan Owens responded in an email saying that while the government agrees with them, "there's still work to be done … to determine specific details and complete further analysis, adjustments, and planning needed to achieve these outcomes." 
 
Owens would not directly answer if the government would provide a progress update in six months, writing that she didn't "want to limit the Department of Education's ability to provide updates moving forward."

"My understanding is that updates will continue to be made as this important work occurs," Owens wrote.

Pedlar's second report is the fifth overall to be released on Hidden Valley. Besides the one ordered by the government, the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate and Yukon RCMP also completed separate reviews of the circumstances surrounding the case.

Meanwhile, William Auclair-Bellemare, the educational assistant, was charged with additional counts involving two other Hidden Valley students after the 2019 case came to light. The Crown later stayed the charges involving one child and a judge found Auclair-Bellemare not guilty of the charges involving the second child after a trial last year. He still faces three lawsuits related to the alleged sexual abuse of three Hidden Valley students, including the original one filed by the 2019 victim.