A BC elementary school principal, who duct tapped a student to a chair and then denied it to her superiors, has been suspended for five days.

According to a Jan. 21 BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation decision, school principal Renee Dawn MacCormack permitted a teacher to duct tape a student to a chair in an effort to get them to focus on their work.

She then joined in and helped tape the student to the chair herself.

A while later she returned, took a photo of the student and gave them a prize for completing their work.

The school district then began an investigation.

During the investigation, MacCormack didn't mention that she gave the other teacher permission, or that she helped duct tape the student to the chair.

She was then suspended without pay for 20 days and reassigned to another school.

The decision says MacCormack got her teaching licence in 2001 and at the time of the incident, during the 2023-2024 school year, she was the principal of an unnamed elementary school in School District No. 5, Southeast Kootenay.

After her 20-day suspension, the teaching regulator was informed and MacCormack signed a consent resolution agreement admitting to her behaviour.

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"MacCormack had a leadership role as a principal and she ought to have known that duct taping a student to a chair was inappropriate, other staff at the School were aware that it was inappropriate," the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation says in the decision. "MacCormack did not act in the Student’s best interests nor treat the Student with dignity and respect."

The regulator says the principal didn't act with integrity when she didn't tell the school district about her involvement duct tapping the student to the chair.

"This conduct undermines the perception of the profession as a whole," the regulator says.

Ultimately, the regulator suspended MacCormack for five days and ordered her to take a Creating a Positive Learning Environment course.

No other details are given in the commissioner's decision.

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