Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
June 16, 2020 - 2:02 PM
A Kamloops school counsellor received a one-day teaching license suspension for sending “suggestive and inappropriate messages,” to a parent, according to the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.
On more than one occasion in the 2018/2019 school year, after being contacted by a parent of a student regarding a child’s school schedule, Ladd Louis Maloski responded with suggestive and inappropriate messages, which "made parents feel uncomfortable,” a consent resolution agreement posted online today, June 16, said.
The decision does not spell out exactly what was in the messages, but said the comments to parents “left the impression that his services to the students were dependent on the parents’ responses.”
After getting wind of the messages, in September 2018, members of the Kamloops school district met with Maloski, told him the messages were inappropriate and unprofessional and directed him to stop text messaging with parents, and to use email instead, according to the decision.
Maloski agreed at the time but in June 2019, he again sent inappropriate text messages to another parent who had contacted him about their child’s course schedule.
The district then issued Maloski a letter of discipline Oct. 8, 2019, and he was suspended 18 days without pay, commencing Oct. 9, 2019. He was removed from his position as a school counsellor and placed on the District’s teacher on-call list.
Maloski will not be considered for counsellor positions within the district for two years, and not until he has completed a district-approved counselling ethics course. In addition, the district directed him to attend the Justice Institute of B.C. course, “Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries.”
Last month, May 27, Maloski entered into a consent resolution agreement with the Commissioner and agreed that his behaviour constituted professional misconduct.
Further, he agreed his actions “negatively impacted the reputation of the profession.”
Under the terms of the consent resolution agreement, he will face a one-day suspension of his certificate of qualification.
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