'Horrific': Education minister says accusers shouldn't be in same classes as accused

Newfoundland and Labrador's education minister says policies at every level are being reviewed in the wake of complaints that a student accused of sexually assaulting other students was allowed to return to the school.

Dale Kirby told CBC News on Thursday that the school district felt it had no choice because of the current wording of the Schools Act, but district, provincial and federal policies are being revisited to allow for alternative arrangements in the future.

We have to do a better job of making sure people have confidence in the school system.- Dale Kirby

"I think what we need to do is to ensure that there is clarity for the school district should this sort of issue re-emerge, and unfortunately, the world we live in, there's probably some likelihood of that in the future," he said. "So we want to make sure that we are able to do everything that we can to protect survivors of sexual violence."

Kirby said other provinces have tackled the problem, so Newfoundland and Labrador will examine what's been done elsewhere in Canada.

"Other provinces have wording that we think we might be able to adapt and maybe even improve on, so that's the road we'll go down."

The education minister said he was disappointed to hear one Stephenville High School parent say they felt their trust in the school system had been broken.  

"We entrust the school system with the safety and security of our kids, and I'm a parent myself. I just felt disappointed that that person felt that that had been violated, so we have to do a better job of making sure people have confidence in the school system, and I think we're on the right path."

While the accused student reportedly returned to the school to write exams — but not attend classes — Kirby said there need to be safeguards in place to prevent the possibility of accused and accusers being in the same classroom.

'It's horrific, really'

"I think it's horrific, really, I mean, to think that somebody would have to face somebody in that situation," he said. "We can do better than that."

"I know the school district put a lot of measures in place to make sure that that wouldn't occur, but I think we have to look at what our responsibility is to children, with respect to the provision of schooling, and then what alternatives can we present in situations where we need to have a different arrangement."

Kirby said things are "imperfect" but thinks the province is moving in the right direction.

"There's often a spark that leads to change, and I think that this was — however unfortunate it is to have a young woman or young women go through this sort of trauma — there is something good going to come out of it."

Kirby is hopeful the province will have the changes in place by the start of the next school year in September.