NORTH BAY - North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico admits he is none too pleased with the tactics being used by the trustees representing the Near North District School Board.
In dispute is the Board's approach surrounding ongoing safety issues in the corridor of Chippewa Street West.
The area is home, in various applications and times of year, to the Northern Pines campus containing transitional housing, a warming centre, and low-barrier shelter services.
"I would rather that maybe somebody had picked up the phone and maybe given us a call instead of negotiating in the media," said Chirico from City Hall on Monday. "But let's be really clear about this: That location was done long before this council was here. Long before this DNSSAB Board was here. We're working on the problem."
NNDSB trustees opted during their April 8 meeting to send a letter to Chirico asking to discuss continuing concerns about the impact of the clients of Northern Pines, across the street from Chippewa Secondary School and nearby Alliance Public School.
"The letter outlines the growing number of risks and expenses incurred by NNDSB and explains that funding ongoing expenses is not sustainable for the board," per a report. "Further, Chippewa students, staff and school community members experience distress and trauma when interacting with clients of the shelter."
Costly security measures deemed necessary at the school have been an ongoing issue ever since the shelter was established four years ago.
See related: Noise-emitting devices augment $611K security fence at Chippewa
For more on the $1-million-plus in security expenses incurred by NNDSB: School Board wants meeting with mayor over 'continuing concerns' about shelter
"The DNSSAB is doing whatever they can to make this safe," Chirico continues. "The Crisis Centre is working together with the school board, and to have those comments come out in a letter, I find it, number one, shocking that nobody picked up the phone to talk to us. My office is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for those conversations, not by letter."
Chair of the Board of Trustees Ashley St. Pierre signed the letter requesting the meeting with the mayor and NNDSB leadership in the hopes of hearing how the City of North Bay plans to work with the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board and other organizations to address the issues and their plan for the future with NNDSB.
"This letter is about our vulnerable children and youth who attend Chippewa Secondary School from the age of 11, as well as members of our Chippewa School Community, and the challenges they face since the shelter was opened across the street from our school," wrote St. Pierre.
"I am writing to you on behalf of the Trustees of the Near North District School Board to express our continued concern about the increasing number of risks and expenses that are the result of the Northern Pines Low Barrier Shelter across the road from the entrance to Chippewa Secondary School. NNDSB has incurred over $1 million in expenses to date and is now required to budget to a minimum of $100,000 per year for security personnel."
"There is a significant cost incurred as a result of the decision to place this service beside a school."
See related: Chippewa warming centre operators promise to 'mitigate issues'
St. Pierre says these expenses are not just a one-time investment, "but now fall on our shoulders as an additional burden when the investment of the province is decreasing in the education sector, and we are faced with a significant deficit."
"I am assured that you understand that no organization funded privately or by the public can easily assume such large expenses without a plan and strong partnerships that can mitigate, reduce, and eventually eliminate these expenses. This list of costs in no way addresses the associated distress and trauma that Chippewa SS students, employees, and school community members also experience when interacting with a person in distress experiencing a mental health crisis or medical incident, often compounded by addiction."
See also: Cold weather program on Chippewa Street West now open
Mayor Chirico acknowledges that social service agencies are playing catch-up when it comes to the social disorder on display in the community.
"Things have changed so dramatically. Over the past 20 years, growing up, I doubt very much that we had an active shooter lockdown in our communities. The violence that occurs in the schools themselves, without even discussing homelessness. We're working on the problem to try and solve it. And as a city, we are so far out of our lane, but we're trying to work together with the DNSSAB, a social service agency, to fix this problem to make sure that everybody's safe. Our police force is doing an excellent job."
For St. Pierre and her fellow trustees, this is a matter of safety and financial prudence. "This is yet another issue that we are faced with planning for in future. I would appreciate a meeting with you and NNDSB leadership at your earliest convenience to hear how the City of North Bay plans to work with the DNSSAB and other organizations within the city and provincially to address these issues and review your plan for the future with our school board."
Asked if the school board trustees should expect a response, Mayor Chirico nodded, adding, "Oh, there will be a response."
— With files from Jeff Turl
