The all-clear has been given for École North Oyster Elementary School after reported bear sightings earlier this morning.
According to Dale Burgos, Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools’ spokesperson, a shelter-in-place was put in place at around 9:30 a.m. Friday.
“The area that the school is in, there’s been numerous sightings and it sounds as if this is the same family of bears that have been seen near the school,” said Burgos. “So typical procedure, the B.C. conservation officer has been called, they investigate. It looks as if it was around a couple of hours long that the [shelter-in-place] was in place. Other than that though, it’s safe, it’s open and the school’s back to normal.”
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Under shelter-in-place protocol, doors are not locked, but people aren’t allowed in or out, for “safe keeping,” with lessons proceeding as usual, Burgos said.
“When we get these reported sightings, we can’t just take someone’s word for it, so as a precaution, we do this shelter-in-place procedure,” he said .
Ecole North Oyster enters Shelter in Place due to bear near the school property - find out more about Shelter in Place https://t.co/NhwE218e2G
— School District 68 (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) (@sd68bc) November 1, 2019
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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