At an elementary school in Abbotsford over the weekend, the April Fools’ fun went a little too far for some parents.
Irene Kelleher Totí: The principal of ltawtxw sent an email to all parents at the school informing them that their children had been assigned to detention.
“I noticed that your child was involved in an accident at lunch today,” the email read. “It wasn’t very pretty. People were crying and no one was laughing. Luckily, no one else was seriously hurt.”
Several parents at the school posted screenshots of the email to social media channels and contacted The News anonymously. They were upset that the headteacher would send such an email without immediately revealing it was a prank.
She then told all parents to send their children to school “tomorrow”, which is Sunday, April 2nd.
“Don’t bring any snacks, but please bring a water bottle and a thick book. The staff will have to be there too, but I don’t expect them to be very happy.”
Parents were told the detention mission would end at noon and they could then “pick up” their children.
The email was signed by Mrs (Shelley) Portas and included a post script stating that the email was a joke.
“If you get there early and no one’s there yet, feel free to collect trash from around the hotel. Make sure to leave by noon…when the April Fool’s joke is over! Have a great weekend everyone!!”
The district quickly responded to The News’ request for clarification regarding such email communications. The district’s communications manager, Kayla Stuckart, said they were aware of the email and followed up on it later on April 1.
“We … have reminded principals about appropriate behavior in parent and family communication,” Stuckart said.
“We sent a follow-up email to the school community on April 1 to clarify the intent of the April Fool’s Day joke and apologize for any stress the original email may have caused.”
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