(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

A BC teacher was suspended after she told a class it was her "nightmare" and made racist comments to a vice principal.

She signed an agreement with the BC teaching regulator this month, admitting to several allegations of professional misconduct.

Sharon Louise Heath was teaching a Grade 10 class in November of last year when she told a group of students that she would kick them out of the class if she could. She described this class as her "nightmare," according to the decision.

Heath told one of the students in that group that she hoped they would fail the class.

During a conversation with a vice principal, she said she found one group of students to be disruptive, then went on to say males of their ethnic background are "rude and disrespectful," according to the decision.

It's not clear what ethnic group she was describing, but the vice principal was of the same background as those students, according to the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation decision.

On Feb 2, the school district issued Heath a discipline letter and suspended her for three days without pay. She was also required to complete two courses, including an anti-racism workshop.

It was one of two complaints about Heath's behaviour. The district reported multiple incidents from the 2020/2021 school year while she was teaching a drama class.

Multiple students reported to be uncomfortable with Heath patting them on the back, hugging cast members and directing them physically while working on scenes, according to the decision.

Heath also shared a "significant amount" of personal stories from her youth with the students, and she failed to wear a mask consistently while at the school from January to June 2021.

According to the decision, she brought a family member along to paint a stage, breaching COVID-19 policies as no visitors were allowed. In addition to that, she had previously told students this relative was homophobic, leaving LGBTQ students to feel "uncomfortable and unsafe."

For those allegations, she was suspended for two days with pay, and she was required to complete a course on professional boundaries.

On Nov. 9, Heath signed an agreement with the provincial regulator and admitted to the allegations. It did not, however, impose an additional punishment.

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