The parents of a Vancouver private school student athlete allegedly threatened with a knife by a teammate are suing both the school and its principal.
The notice of civil claim filed Sept. 29 in B.C. Supreme Court said Grade 12 student AB was on one of St. George’s School’s athletic teams in April when the locker room incident happened.
The parents want the principal fired and an order made for the school to enforce risk assessment and misconduct policies.
“The school has put its reputation above the safety and welfare of its students,” the claim said.
In an Oct. 12 letter to parents and guardians, head of school David Young said, "the lawsuit is without merit and our priority in this matter continues to be our students and you, our community."
Glacier Media is not using the names of the students and family due to the age of the students. Nor is Glacier Media identifying the team.
After an April 14 morning practice, AB and another student hid CD’s bag as a prank. The claim said when CD could not find the bag, he emerged from the change room yelling.
AB claimed to have called after him to tell him where the bag was but CD ignored him.
When CD returned to the locker room, he found AB alone.
“(CD) pulled out a knife and pushed (AB) up against the wall of the bathroom,” the claim said.
But, even when AB said where the bag was, “(CD) continued to hold (AB) against the wall and made a stabbing motion with the knife at (AB’s) abdomen.”
He then released AB, who texted other team members to discuss what to do. They contacted the team coordinator to arrange a meeting.
The students met with the team coordinator who, in turn, reported the situation to the school sport head.
Soon, AB and CD had boarded a bus to travel to Victoria for a three-day camp, the claim said. However, school administrators, including principal Gary Kern, arrived and asked both to step off.
The claim said Kern accused AB of provoking the incident and asked if the student intended to tell his father. The claim said the question left AB thinking he was being blamed for the alleged assault and if he had the courage to tell his dad.
He did so later that afternoon; Kern did not call until the next day, according to court documents.
The father told Kern he expected a school investigation to be done.
While on the trip, AB suggested he might have to talk to police. The school sport head allegedly interjected to say, “Don’t worry. It’s not like you will be talking to the police.”
Soon, a Vancouver Police Department officer called to ask if AB wanted to report the incident but he declined out of school loyalty.
Meanwhile, AB had begun to experience post-traumatic stress symptoms while his parents wondered if CD’s parents’ close ties to the school were influencing decisions, the claim said.
On May 1, the father asked for the school’s investigative report and was refused. However, CD was voluntarily allowed to withdraw from the school.
The claim highlights a number of safety practices that St. George’s has allegedly not followed. It identifies Kern as St. George’s safe school coordinator. It also asserts the school does not have a violent threat risk assessment process.
As such, it alleges Kern and the school failed in their duty to protect students.
The claim also alleges Kern failed to reduce risk by promptly removing CD from the school, taking possession of the knife or taking steps to ensure AB does not come into contact with CD during athletic occasions.
Further, it alleges St. George’s failed to do any follow-up to prevent further such instances.
The claim asks that the school enforce its policies around misconduct and risk assessment work, fire Kern and seeks various damages.
Young's letter said, "a situation took place at the school involving an incident between two students."
"It is very important that you are assured that the safety and well-being of our students is our paramount priority. Serious misconduct involving physical confrontation of any kind is not tolerated," Young said.
"An investigation was launched, the matter was immediately reported to the police, and the school took appropriate action in accordance with its policies," he said. "As I’m sure you understand, as the matter progresses, we will not be able to publicly share any further details and will not be commenting more directly on this matter."
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
