Nanaimo’s school district is under fire after it announced 85 students on a class trip to Nice, France during last week’s deadly attack would be brought home early.
One father of a child on the trip says some parents are so frustrated with School District 68’s response to the incident, they’re considering launching legal action.
Peter Behie says his 17-year-old daughter, Alexandra, and her classmates ran for their lives when a man plowed a truck into celebratory crowds last Thursday, killing 84 people and wounding 202 more.
“It was a frightening experience,” he said. “My daughter was on the Promenade des Anglais, did not see the actual carnage but had to run and was in lockdown.”
All of the students on the trip were quickly accounted for after the attack. After speaking with his daughter, Behie said he was impressed with how resilient the group was.
“The group was tight, they seemed to be healing and they were feeling positive,” he said.
Upon talking with the district, Behie said he and other parents decided the kids should be allowed to continue the trip, which families paid for.
“Within an hour of having that call, a press release went out,” he said. “I learned on Facebook that the kids were being brought home, so that was most upsetting and frustrating because no parent was told of the decision or had any input into the decision."
Behie, who is a lawyer, said he also told officials he would draw up a legal document that would absolve the district of any liability if the kids continued with the trip.
But shortly after, he said the district again reiterated its decision to bring all students home against the will of many parents.
His daughter was then brought to London before being put on a flight back to Vancouver.
“The plan to get them home has been chaotic because getting 85 people out of Nice is not easy,” he said. “Out of concern for heightened risk, my daughter is flying through one of the busiest airports in the world, which, if anywhere is going to have problems, it’s there.”
The school district declined an interview with CTV News and will not comment on the allegations, instead releasing a general statement.
“The trip is a district-approved international student trip. This allows the district to make decisions that are in the best interest of its students and staff,” it said.
Parents like Behie say they’re considering legal action against the district, not just to recoup trip costs.
“This decision by the school [district] has traumatized the kids as well, and that’s unfortunate,” he said. “A group of us are considering legal action, not just for the lost cost of the trip, but for the damage to the children’s expectations, the destruction of their planned trip.”
The first group of Nanaimo students being brought back is expected to fly into Vancouver late Monday.
