OCSU Letter to Kelowna Senior Secondary

To: Kelowna Secondary School Administration, School Board District 23, and the Kelowna Secondary School Parental Advisory Committee;

CC: Okanagan College KSS Task Force, James Coble

The Okanagan College Students’ Union represents over 5000 OC students in Salmon Arm, Penticton, and Kelowna, and is governed by a board of 18 elected student representatives.

We are writing to formally raise concerns about the ongoing presence and behaviour of Kelowna Secondary School (KSS) students on Okanagan College (OC) campuses. While we recognize that Okanagan College is public property and that many KSS students conduct themselves appropriately, the volume and severity of incidents involving KSS students has reached a point where it is significantly impacting the safety, learning environment, and overall campus experience for OC students.This issue has become the number one complaint we hear from our students on the Kelowna campus, and so we feel it necessary to bring this forward to you all.

OC student study spaces, particularly areas with access to electrical outlets, are frequently taken over by large groups of KSS students. This often coincides with loud and disruptive behaviour, including verbal altercations and physical fights. There have also been repeated instances of vandalism and littering on OC property, such as broken windows and doors, vandalizing and stealing supplies from bathrooms, as well as discarded trash and cups throughout buildings and common areas, done at the hands of KSS students on OC property.

We have received numerous complaints from OC students who report feeling unsafe on campus when KSS students are gathering, engaging in raucous, disruptive and explicit behaviour. There have also been reports of harassment directed toward OC staff, security, and students, including being combative when individuals are politely asked to adjust their behaviour or leave. OC signage on campus clearly indicates that KSS students are welcome to come to campus and purchase food, but are then directed to depart, and this is blatantly disregarded daily.

Okanagan College is a place of learning and academic focus. Disrespectful behaviour and repeated disruptions undermine this environment and contribute to a negative experience for students, staff, and members of the public alike. When behavioural expectations and campus guidelines are disregarded, it creates frustration, animosity, and a growing sense of tension across the OC community. Consistently, the presence and conduct of several groups of KSS students on campus has become the number one complaint raised by Okanagan College students to both our organization, and the institution.

We want to be clear that these concerns do not reflect the behaviour of all KSS students. However, the number of incidents is significant enough that it impacts nearly everyone at OC and has led to a broadly negative association with KSS students as a whole. This is an outcome we wish to avoid, but one that will persist without meaningful intervention. With the growing animosity amongst OC students for your students, we are deeply concerned for the safety of everyone on campus. Frustration and short tempers are building blocks for altercations of all varieties, and it is not OC’s responsibility to manage the discipline of KSS students. Safety is not a privilege, it's an expectation for all students, faculty, and staff of Okanagan College, as well as visiting guests.

We are requesting in-person, on the ground support from KSS staff and the School District to help manage KSS student behaviour when KSS students visit the OC campus, particularly during lunch break. It is not acceptable for any guests to damage property, engage in or instigate violence, harass others, or otherwise disrupt the learning of post-secondary students. This behaviour reflects poor neighbourly conduct and places an unreasonable burden on OC staff and campus security, who are continually disregarded and disrespected by many KSS students.

We feel strongly that many of your students who visit our campus are in serious breach of KSS’s own Student Code of Conduct. Some of the breaches include failing to meet the following expectations:

• Displaying Respect for the rights, property and safety of themselves and others.  

•  Honouring the Rights of others - through the process of learning and demonstrating appropriate behaviours.

• Exhibiting behaviour that is free of all forms of intimidation, harassment, racism, and discrimination;

• Refraining from all types of violent acts;

• Refraining from disruptive or unnecessary behaviours that negatively affect the learning environment;

• Refraining from the possession and use of all forms of intoxicants and tobacco (drugs, alcohol, etc.); including vapes, cigars and E-cigarettes;

• Modeling respectful and responsible behaviour, not only at school, but within the community as well

We also would like to highlight which examples of unacceptable behaviour are outlined in this code of conduct that these students are actively participating in:

• Interfering with the rights of others to learn

• Creating an unsafe situation for any school member, and extending to OC school members

• Distract others from focusing on instruction or concentrating on prescribed tasks

KSS students are participating in the following Prohibited Acts of your Student Code of Conduct:

• Bullying, harassment and intimidation

• Physical violence

• Any acts of a sexual nature outside of public displays of affection acceptable in a professional environment

KSS students have also been witnessed with the possession or action of the following prohibited acts of the KSS Student Code of Conduct:

• Theft of or damage to property 

• Tobacco, E-Cigarette or Vaporizer use on school grounds.

KSS states on their website under the Principal Authority of the student code of conduct that the “Principal and his/her designates has a right under the School Act to discharge discipline from the time a student leaves home to go to school until such time as the student returns home at the conclusion of the school day.  However, the Principal’s and the District’s authority also extend beyond the normal "home-to-home" rule when the behaviour of a student off school premises or after school hours adversely affects the operation of any school in the district for example, online communication, violent altercations, etc.” and since KSS states that “it is partially our responsibility to actively teach these [code of conduct] attitudes and skills,” we believe that it is a requirement for the staff and administrators of KSS to take an active role in daily supervision of the KSS students descending on the OC campus during lunch hours, and all other peak visiting hours to ensure the appropriate behaviour and discipline as required is enacted on your pupils. We are committed to making ourselves fully available to support the staff and administrators of KSS in lobbying School District 23, should they request it, for additional resources to better manage this issue on the condition that they agree to immediately devote current resources to managing the issues we have outlined above.

OCSU believes that with your active support and cooperation, clear communication, and shared responsibility, it is possible to reduce these incidents and restore a safe, respectful, and academically focused environment for everyone who uses the Okanagan College Kelowna campus, and our two student populations can coexist peacefully and respectfully. We would be pleased to continue these conversations through face to face conversations in the spirit of collaborative problem solving.

We appreciate your attention and consideration on this matter.

-Okanagan College Students’ Union Board of Directors.