Wild Rose School Division will be introducing some new ways to encourage more respectful interactions between the public and school staff, following concerns about how some employees are being treated.

Superintendent Jodie Mattia says the issue was brought to the board of trustees after staff shared their experiences about recent, negative interactions — both online and over the phone.

Mattia stressed that the vast majority of WRSD parents are kind and understanding, and that strong parent engagement remains important to the division.

However, she says there has been some escalation in how a small percentage of parents are engaging with staff.

The discussion focused on how the division can support employees while continuing to work collaboratively with families to address concerns and challenges.

She clarified, the concerns are not about a lack of respect among staff and teachers at WRSD, instead how some members of the public are interacting with staff.

Mattia says the goal is to ensure conversations remain respectful, even when there are disagreements or difficult issues to work through.

To encourage positive discourse, Mattia says the division is set to post signs of positive messaging in all WRSD schools, reminding everyone to be kind and respectful.

It is also looking at adding a reminder about respectful conversations to the recorded messages callers hear when contacting schools.

Mattia says the changes will be developed collaboratively with schools and school councils over the next several months.