Editor's note: MidlandToday is republishing some of the most widely read stories from 2022. This story was originally published September 16.
Children should be playing with balls and skipping ropes during school recess, not finding used syringes and other drug paraphernalia in what's widely considered a safe space.
But that’s what’s happening on the grounds of a Midland elementary school.
And parent Tanya Copeland has had enough of what she rightfully considers a danger to the health and welfare of her two children and other students attending Sacred Heart Catholic School.
“It’s gotten to the point where they have to do a sweep of the kindergarten yard every morning,” Copeland says during an interview outside the Elizabeth Street school. “They also have to check the sand (in the sandbox). I brought a bucket one time to collect the sharps.
“It's so wrong that we have to do that. As parents, you just expect the schoolyard to be safe and clean.”
Copeland says some people are even finding their way onto the school's roof and throwing things off it as well as urinating onto the kindergarten play-area below.
Copeland even arrived one day with bush cutters to cut back some of the brush that can serve as hiding places at a side path that takes one to the back of the school.
But it’s not just Copeland who’s worried.
She says staff at the school are concerned and want something to be done to ensure the safety of their charges.
Scott Gorecki was the principal at Sacred Heart until last February when he moved to the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board office to work as a superintendent.
He says he knows all too well the challenges facing staff as they work to ensure student safety.
“There’s a high volume of people on that property,” Gorecki says, adding the issue occurs throughout the week and has forced principal Tammy Mayer to come in 1 ½ hours early each morning to check the property and clean up the mess. “It’s not just on weekends.”
Gorecki says that over the summer, there were even people camping on the school property, which includes a large playing field that extends almost to Borden Street.
Gorecki then proceeds to run down a dirty laundry list of what staff, students and parents have found.
From used diapers and human waste to alcohol bottles, plenty of garbage and rubber tubing used to tie off an arm before shooting up, he says people aren’t showing any respect or decency for the young people the property ultimately serves.
Gorecki hopes the town, board and OPP come together to work towards the common good.
For its part, he says the board is considering increased lighting, trimming back bushes and hedges and possibly even installing surveillance cameras.
“We have a common responsibility,” he says, referring to the board, the town and the OPP’s Southern Georgian Bay detachment.
“We also have a responsibility to the families. It’s very frustrating for the school community. If anybody has any creative ideas, we’re open to hearing them.”
Copeland says some of the undesirables have been using the field as a thoroughfare to cross from behind Borden Street to get to a nearby, “well-known drug house" on William,Street.
“EAs (educational assistants) should not have to deal with drugged-out idiots walking through the yard,” she says. “The teachers, principal and EAs are doing what they can.”
There's also an opening beside the school that's used by children before and after school. But that entry point has also become popular with drug users, according to Copeland.
She says the school has looked into installing a gate that could be locked before and after school, but has been told by the town that it's not permitted since it's considered "public access."
But when it was suggested to the town that if it's "public access," it should send someone to pick up the needles, the town noted it can't because it's "private property," according to Copeland.
Angela Grenier speaks for the town and acknowledges that Midland's bylaw department was contacted by a "concerned person" at the school.
"As this is private property, we referred them to the school board and cautioned against any cleanup of hazardous material by non-trained individuals," Grenier wrote in an email to MidlandToday.
"We have notified the school of the complaint as well. To our knowledge installation of gates has not been requested. Any such requests would need to be evaluated for impacts to access and accessibility."
When asked for comment on the issue, Southern Georgian Bay OPP Const. David Hobson said police need the public to report crimes either to police (888) 310-1122 or Crime Stoppers (800-222-8477).
"Officers on patrol do uncover crimes but it's up to the community to assist us in solving and preventing crimes," said Hobson, who for this particular story pointed a reporter to a June press release related to a drug bust at a William Street residence.
"We're aware of the problem (in the area)," he added. "The police do take these complaints seriously. I can't comment on any current, ongoing investigations."
But it’s not just drugs that are an issue, according to Copeland.
She says vandalism is also a regular occurrence with fencing bent out of shape and schoolyard items damaged beyond repair.
While she notes the school’s staff is doing everything they can, they seem to be fighting a losing battle as her young son Carter, who’s in Grade 5, can likely attest.
“I found a needle on the first day of school,” the 10-year-old says.
It’s gotten so bad that Grade 8 teacher Jennifer Tate had her students compose a letter to the town asking for their help, according to Copeland’s daughter Sydney, who is in Grade 8 at the school.
“We’re telling them (the town) what’s happening and saying we’d like to talk to the council to get it addressed,” Sydney says.
“I worry for my brother and his friends because they’re out there playing.”
But parents and staff aren't giving up on their quest to do something to make the lives better for the young students who enter this red-bricked place of learning.
"It's the one school where you feel like you're part of the family," Copeland says. "And this really breaks my heart."
