SJR making changes after sex abuse charges

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The Winnipeg private school rocked by a sex abuse scandal says it’s acting on recommendations from a recent investigation into its policies and practices.

St John’s Ravenscourt says it will keep one staff member present at all times on each floor of the boys and girls residences, and restrict access to the boarding school while classes are in session. There will also be anti-bullying programs and efforts to identify at-risk students.

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The review was launched in May 2010 after four teenaged students boarding at SJR were charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement against 12 younger students.

Dr. David Morphy, Vice-Provost at the University of Manitoba, who has no history with St. John’s Ravenscourt was hired to lead the review and released his preliminary findings on June 30th. The school spent the first two weeks of July acting on six of 19 recommendations, according to SJR’s head of school, Dr. Stephen Johnson.

“We feel we've got the right pieces in place but perhaps we assumed more was happening than was and more was understood than was,” Johnson told Global News in an interview Wednesday.

Among the 19 recommendations:

The school will put one staff member at all times on each floor of both the boys and girls residences.

Resident students will not be allowed access to their rooms during school hours.

SJR will move from part-time staff monitoring the boarding residences to full time staff.

Interviews are also underway among residence staff and students to gather suggestions of how the boarding experience may be improved.

Among the students allegedly victimized, all came back to SJR’s boarding facility, except for one who is now enrolled as just a day-time student.

Currently, 37 students are boarding at SJR – down from 50 last year.
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