A one-month certificate suspension has been issued for a Greater Victoria School District teacher for inappropriate behaviour with students.
A Consent Resolution Agreement (CRA) issued July 4 by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation says Gregory Garost was a grade 8 teacher in 2016 and made inappropriate personal comments to female students and engaged in inappropriate physical contact with students.
On Oct. 31 of that year, the school district made a report to the Commissioner regarding Garost, under a section of the School Act.
Garost had been suspended by the district Oct. 24, 2016, and did not teach after that date.
He resigned from employment on Feb. 1, 2018.
Under the CRA, Garost agreed his conduct constituted professional misconduct, contrary to standards of the Standards for the Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia.
Garost agreed to a one-month suspension of his Professional Certificate of Qualification, issued by the B.C. College of Teachers in 1998.
The suspension is effective from September 3 to October 3, 2019.
The CRA says factors the Commissioner considered for a suspension as a suitable consequence includes the inappropriate physical contact with students, Garost had been previously disciplined for inappropriate student interactions and he failed to modify his conduct towards students despite the prior discipline.
Garost also agreed to not make any statements which contradicts, disputes or calls into question the terms of the agreement or admissions made in it.
The CRA says “at all material times, Garost was employed as a middle school teacher” by School District 61.
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