‘Unacceptable’
SOME PARENTS FUME AFTER LEARNING KARLA HOMOLKA IS VOLUNTEERING AT THEIR CHILDREN’S SCHOOL
As Karla Homolka rushed past news cameras and photographers snapping pictures in front of Greaves Academy in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a woman was pacing behind her, screaming and clapping her hands.
“In the name of Jesus, leave her alone,” she yelled at the throng of reporters.
“It is written that everyone of us is sinful and we must forgive, because God is a forgiving God. Leave her alone.”
But when approached by reporters, the woman declined to comment.
“I don’t have nothing to say,” the woman said.
Homolka, who lives in Châteauguay, has been sending her three children to the private, Seventh-day Adventist school on West Hill Avenue just north of De Maisonneuve Boulevard since September.
On Wednesday morning, she parked her black Honda SUV in front of the photographers, and rushed her three children inside the school. On her way back to her car, she used her purse in an attempt to block her face.
Homolka served 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the deaths of two schoolgirls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.
Her ex-husband, Paul Bernardo, is serving a life sentence for his role in multiple rapes and homicides.
Homolka reportedly supervised kindergarten children from the Greaves Adventist Academy on a field trip in March.
Parents told the Montreal Gazette on Wednesday Homolka has been seen in the schoolyard with her dog, and allowed the children to pet the animal. Homolka was also permitted into school to show off her dog to students.
The academy, a private Christian school, was aware of Homolka’s criminal past before she started volunteering there.
Several parents told the Gazette they became aware of Homolka’s involvement with their children only after a man, who called himself a concerned citizen, passed out leaflets back in March.
One parent, who tried to raise the issue with the school, was told he would not be welcome back when the new school year starts in September.
“When I first read the paper, I thought it was a hoax,” said Andy Maraj, whose daughter attends Grade 3 with one of Homolka’s children.
“But then I saw her and I saw her walking around with her dog for the children to play with. I told my daughter: ‘This lady, I don’t want you to go near her please. If she calls you, don’t go near her and call me,’ because I don’t trust the school.”
Maraj said he’s upset that Homolka was permitted inside the school to interact with the children.
“That’s not even supposed to happen, because once you have a (criminal) record, you’re not supposed to be in the school,” he said.
“They could have asked her to stay in the car, and have someone escort her kids into the school, and not to bring her dog. And it’s not her fault, it’s (the school’s) fault. It’s really terrible that they would allow this.”
Maraj said he started discussing Homolka’s presence with other parents in April, and on May 2, he received a letter that he would not be welcomed back in September.
Stéphanie Deligne, whose daughter attends Grade 4 at the school and is in a class with one of Homolka’s children, said she would have liked to have been informed about the situation.
“It’s really unacceptable,” Deligne said. “My daughter was playing with the dog of Karla Homolka, and I was right next to her, but I didn’t know who she was.”
She said she was angry to hear Homolka is regularly allowed into the school, and that she took her dog inside.
“Now, I just bring (her daughter) into the school, and I don’t let her play outside because (Homolka regularly) brings the dog,” she said.
Deligne was told that she, too, would have to find another school in September.
“The administration told me I am being too critical,” she said.
The Gazette had contacted Greaves Adventist Academy about Homolka’s alleged involvement on May 17. At the time, school superintendent Marc Bouzy said the academy had not received any complaints about the ex-convict.
“The school has been here for a long time and we have never been involved in anything contrary to the proper norms of the students,” Bouzy told the Gazette.
“There is no reason for anyone to be concerned about the way we do things right now for the benefit of the students in our community. The ministry only gives permits to schools that are a safe place for students attending. In no way is it an issue for the community.”
The Seventh-day Adventist Church of Canada, which runs the school, told Breakfast Television that Homolka isn’t a regular volunteer at the school and that she’s not allowed to be alone with the children. Under provincial law, volunteers at elementary schools are supposed to undergo criminal background checks before interacting with students.