Trustees ponder mosquito device rules

Vancouver school board trustees have moved a step closer to allowing the use of so- called mosquito devices to deter vandalism on school property.

At a committee meeting Tuesday, all nine trustees agreed that newly drafted regulations governing use of the devices will go to a formal school board vote June 18.

“It’s a reasonable method for protecting your property,” said board vice- chairman Mike Lombardi.

A board committee drafted rules intended to ensure the devices, which emit an unpleasant high- pitched sound detectable by young ears only, do not pose a health hazard or violate human rights when installed on school property.

If approved, the policy revisions will allow schools with chronic vandalism to install the devices, providing they consult first with parents, staff and neighbours. The devices would operate only between 10 p. m. and 6 a. m., and signs would need to declare that school grounds are closed during those hours and may have an anti- loitering device.

The school district has been waffling on this issue. In early March, managers ordered the devices turned off after trustees learned that 33 mosquitoes had been installed at schools without board approval. At the same time, the B. C. Civil Liberties Association called for a ban on the devices, noting the European Union had concluded they violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

But after two schools were subsequently vandalized, some devices were turned back on with the support of trustees. A legal opinion from the Harris & Co. law firm cited in a staff report to trustees suggests there is no basis for a humanrights complaint “assuming that access to school property during the night is not a service customarily made available to any member of the public.”

Vandalism costs for Vancouver schools had been declining until this year.