Additional security guards removed from three Nanaimo schools as threat eases

NANAIMO, B.C. – Additional security guards have been removed from three schools in Nanaimo, B.C., after a former teacher was sentenced for uttering threats.

Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district spokeswoman Donna Reimer says the guards were removed after classes on Tuesday, one week after they were sent to Dover Bay Secondary, Nanaimo District Secondary, and Cilaire Elementary, as well as the district administration centre.

Reimer says the district’s risk assessment team met with the RCMP and other agencies before making the decision.

The school district announced last week that extra security had been added at the schools in an abundance of caution after the sentencing of former Nanaimo teacher Francies Willem Van Der Voort Maarschalk.

He got 18 months probation and a firearms prohibition after pleading guilty to uttering threats.

He had been banned from teaching in Nanaimo-area schools, but until a review of his teaching certification is completed, the B.C. Teachers’ Regulation Branch has extended the ban to cover the entire province. (CKAY)