The Kamloops-Thompson School District will begin its board meetings with a warning statement, in a bid to prevent abusive behaviour.

The new statement says the School District expects people in attendance at the meeting to “remain respectful at all times,” and that rude or foul language is not acceptable.

SD73 Board Chair Heather Grieve says the warning also says that inflammatory statements, racial or discriminatory comments, and unsubstantiated allegations will all be considered abusive behavior.

“We can have people with differing opinions and we certainly have not had an issue in SD73, but that is not to say there haven’t been disruptions provincially at different board meetings,” Grieve said, noting the move brings SD73 in line with other B.C. school districts who have brought in similar disclaimers.

“It was about doing some foundational work in terms of how can we ensure that everyone knows what to expect when they come into our meeting area and make sure people are aware of what is expected of people in the gallery as well as of people around the board table.”

The statement also goes on to say if SD73 feels the situation escalates to something that is no longer manageable, they will call a short recess to allow staff, trustees, and other attendees to leave the meeting. It also says that SD73 will call the RCMP if the situation is unmanageable.

“It is really about setting the tone for the preventative stuff,” Grieve said. “We have really good relationships with our RCMP liaison, so we know that if we ever have a challenge, we can certainly call on them.”

The statement also says members of the public who come to board meetings will have to turn their phones off.