Superintendent’s Update
Nov. 3, 2022
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
Shortly before 3:00 pm today, Hanover School Division became aware of an urgent RCMP investigation in the community. As a precaution, RCMP requested Stonybrook Middle School and Steinbach Regional Secondary School be placed on Hold and Secure.
A Hold and Secure is used when it is necessary to secure a school because an emergency is occurring outside the school. Classes may continue to function normally. The exterior doors are locked and monitored to allow students and staff to enter, but otherwise remain locked. Once inside, no one leaves the building. An active police incident in a neighbourhood may trigger a Hold and Secure.
As a precautionary measure, Hanover School Division directed all other Steinbach schools to delay the dismissal of their students. At approximately 3:50 pm, the RCMP gave the “all clear,” and all Steinbach students were dismissed.
When urgent school-wide incidents occur, we attempt to contact parents/caregivers as quickly as possible through email/voicemail (Bright Arrow Messaging System). There are some technical limitations in sending voicemails. The automated dialer may encounter dropped calls or busy signals when a large volume of calls is sent, resulting in messages being placed in a later queue to try again. In such instances, voicemails may be received out of order. We also recognize that in some cases, parents/caregivers may first hear of the incident from their children (mobile phones) on location at the school.
Once the first notification is sent, we post updates on the HSD.ca website and to @HanoverSD as quickly as we receive them from the RCMP. We also attempt to send updates via email/voicemail. We encourage parents/caregivers to monitor our website for the most timely and up-to-date information during an incident or urgent situation. We will share as many details about the incident as is safe to do so at that moment, with the information provided by the RCMP. Today’s incident is currently under investigation by the RCMP and we anticipate a news release forthcoming.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this trying and urgent situation. The safety of our students and staff is our top priority. We are thankful for our partnership with the Steinbach RCMP detachment, who provide timely service and communication to our school division.
Respectfully,
Shelley Amos, Superintendent/CEO
Hanover School Division