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July 28, 2020 - 12:00 PM
A B.C. high school drama teacher was suspended for a total of eight days for a series of complaints, including chiding a student who called their parents for being nervous on a school trip and generally causing 'emotional distress' to students.
At the time the events happened in 2018 and 2019, the unnamed teacher was head of theatre instruction at the unnamed school, running theatre programs for students in Grades 7 to 12, according to a Consent Resolution Summary from the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation released today.
The teacher yelled and use profanity when speaking to students, thus demeaning them, the report said.
When one student complained about being bullied, the teacher was dismissive and said he "didn’t want to be involved in any drama."
On an overnight trip the student became anxious and later told their parent, who texted the teacher. In response, the teacher told the student "he never wanted to get a text from their parent again and that they needed to learn to deal with matters on their own."
A second student, who was feeling anxious, was told “they needed to put their sadness somewhere else and that he did not like dealing with it.”
On July 23, 2019, the teacher was suspended for five days by the school district where he worked and he was ordered to apologize to a parent who had made a complaint.
This came after a letter of expectation was issued in 2016 that said he was to treat students with dignity and respect and use appropriate language for his students, avoiding sarcasm, questionable language and to avoid personal comments.
The teacher agreed in the consent order that he had committed these actions and was guilty of professional misconduct. The Commissioner for Teacher Regulation imposed a further three-day suspension of his teaching certificate.
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