Following months of debate and discussion, the Simcoe County District School Board is hoping to find out the answer to one specific question in its next school climate survey.
Why do so many of its students feel unsafe at school?
During their regular board meeting on Wednesday, trustees received an update from education director Dawn Stephens on preparations for the 2025-26 school climate survey, which is put out annually for all students within the board.
The results from the 2023-24 school climate survey found one in four elementary students and one in three high school students within the public board don’t feel safe at school, which was up from the results from the previous year.
Amendments to add more questions to the survey about school safety were originally brought forward by Collingwood/Wasaga Beach trustee Mike Foley late last year at the board table, who spoke this week about what students are currently doing to feel safer.
“I’ve heard from parents that students will walk a block or two to use a public bathroom because they don’t want to go into the school bathroom. In Collingwood, a lot of students will walk across the street to Hope Chapel because they feel safer there,” shared Foley.
“A deep dive is really the only and best way to find out what’s going on and what’s creating an atmosphere of fear for so many of our students. Student safety should be one of our No. 1 priorities next to educating our students.”
Students in grades 4 to 12 from the Simcoe County public board participate in the school climate survey annually. The board noted a 92 per cent participation rate for elementary students (18,845 responses for grades 4 to 8) and a 75 per cent participation rate (13,175 responses) for secondary students in 2023-24.
While Simcoe County teachers unions say they believe the unsafe feelings are attributable to violence in schools, the board in the past has only asked, “Do you feel safe at school?” without any follow-up questions.
Never before has it asked why a student might feel safe or unsafe, or what it could do to make students feel safer as part of the survey.
Board staff say they take the data from the annual school climate survey and then do deeper dives with each individual school principal to figure out the reasons why. Student groups and school staff are consulted within individual schools as part of this process, and principals work with the data to come up with a plan to improve school safety.
However, Foley put the motion forward to try to get the data straight from students in the moment of completing the survey.
The following will now be included in the survey starting in the 2025-26 school year:
- Do you feel safe in your school?
- Please describe what makes you feel safe at school. Please describe what makes you feel unsafe at school.
- Please share your thoughts and ideas on how the Simcoe County District School Board can make you feel safer at school.
“Safety has to be our priority and we do need more information. This will be a good way for us to continue to get more information,” Stephens told trustees on Wednesday.
During discussion, Orillia/Ramara/Severn trustee Jodi Lloyd questioned whether interpreting the survey results as an average ratio was appropriate.
“I’m just wondering if, while we’re here and have the expertise of manager (Lisa) Newton, she could just confirm for us if she agrees with those interpretations and that analysis of the data and the percentages,” said Lloyd. “I think that’s really important when we’re doing and making comments ... that it be accurate and interpreted accurately.”
Newton, research manager with the board, said the numbers were accurate but presenting them as a ratio can lack context.
“It’s important to remember when we present here in this room, we are presenting an average for a system with thousands of students,” said Newton. “I think if we minimize that result to a quick and easy ratio ... that is not quality reporting of statistics.”
Newton noted the statistics are not the result in every classroom, in every school. However, the board doesn’t release data on individual school results of the school climate survey, citing student privacy.
Foley responded he recognizes the figures are an overall, average statistic.
“We need to be able to recognize that, based on the numbers of students who submitted responses ... that is an accurate statistic. That’s all we have to work with unless there’s a better way of doing it,” he said.
Barrie trustee Lynn Strachan spoke about the importance of collecting more complete data at the board.
“It’s important to dive into these issues, but if we’re going to dive into these questions, we should be asking the best questions we can to make sure we get the best data,” she said. “I think we’re heading in the right direction with these (new) questions.”
