Teachers return to Dawson College

Dawson College teachers and support staff returned to work Friday to begin rebuildinga school community torn apart by deadly violence.

Two days after a woman was shot dead and 19 others were wounded, the college allowed teachers and staff back in toprepare for the return of students on Monday.

Teachers will have a chance to discuss the shootings with counsellors assigned to the college, said director Richard Fillion. They'll gather for a staff meeting Friday afternoon to share their experiences and discuss strategies for dealing with students.

It's crucial that teachers get the right support, Fillion said, so they can in turn assist the thousands of returning students.

"We will provide to our community, to heal the wounds, and to get this college back on track," he said.

Students will not resume classes immediately, but will be allowed to return to school for counselling, and to pick up items left behind in the panicked exit Wednesday afternoon.

Some students are dreading the return, though they realize it's inevitable. "I'm going to be scared as hell, but I really think I need to do it," said Carys Harding Jones, 17,a student at Dawson College.

'We have to learn from these events': premier

Quebec Premier Jean Charest visited the college on Thursday during a break from his caucus meeting in Montreal. "My hope is that they will be able to return to normal as rapidly as possible, as much as normal will be possible in the next few days," said Charest. "Even after these very difficult circumstances, life goes on. And we have to learn from these events."

Student leaders criticized the school administration in the day that followed the shooting, accusing them of waiting too long to provide crisis support.

Fillion says the school reacted as well as it could given the circumstances. "We did everything we could. I was told that we followed the security and evacuation plans to the letter."

Staff and students found support among the larger community in downtown Montreal in the hours following the shootings. Many sought refuge at nearby Concordia University.

Dawson College is willing to review its policies in cases of emergency, said Fillion, andthe Quebec government has already asked all school boards, universities and colleges to do so.

Education Minister Jean-Marc Fournier said the tragedy at Dawson provides an opportunity to improve emergency response plans.

"We understand from an event like that, there are things that now appear that maybe we did not see before," Fournier said Thursday. "Certainly the fact about the evacuation is something that must be taken into consideration by those in the establishment, by those who have to prepare those kind of plans, that we don't want to use, but have to be made."

Dawson College has set up a hotline for students seeking help or assistance. The number is (514) 931-8066. The line will be open Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Classes are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.