A high school teacher in British Columbia had their teaching certificate cancelled and is unable to reapply for 15 years for kissing a vulnerable student in 2022.
The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation (BCCTR) says the contact occurred on July 4, 2022, the day of the student’s high school graduation, at the former teacher’s home.
The teacher’s adult children were having a party at the home that night, which included some university-aged attendees drinking alcohol.
The teacher had been out for dinner and returned to the home after the party had already started.
The student, who the teacher had taught, was at the party and was not of legal drinking age, but had consumed some alcohol at the party, according to the BCCTR.
The BCCTR says the teacher did not know the student had drunk alcohol that night, before kissing them on the lips.
“This was photographed and circulated on social media,” said the BCCTR in a consent resolution agreement released Tuesday.
The teacher resigned from their school district and later entered into a consent resolution agreement with the BCCTR, in which they admitted to the events of that night.
The teacher agreed that their teaching certificate would be cancelled under the Teachers Act, and that they would be banned from applying to teach at any public or independent school in B.C. for a period of 15 years.
The BCCTR says the penalty comes after the commission considered several factors, including the fact that the teacher endangered the emotional safety of the student, and because the teacher’s conduct was “part of a pattern of boundary issues.”
The BCCTR says it did not share which school district the incident took place to help protect the identity of the student, which is the policy whenever the BCCTR releases a decision related to a student who may have been harmed, abused or exploited by a teacher.
FROM 2023:
Adam Chan
