More than 1,000 calls. Over 190 messages. B.C. teacher banned for 15 years for inappropriate student relationship

A teacher in British Columbia who had exchanged hundreds of “increasingly personal and intimate messages” with a student has been banned from the job for 15 years. Between the two, more than 1,000 calls were made over the phone, according to a summary of the consent resolution agreement published Tuesday.

The secondary school teacher and the student — who have not been identified in the document released by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation — started using the school’s Microsoft Teams messaging platform to speak to each other. There were more than 190 messages sent over a three-week period. Most of the Teams messages were sent between 8 p.m. and midnight.

“These messages included giving each other compliments about their physical appearance and about having a slow dance together,” per the consent agreement.

The relationship escalated after a school event, when the two exchanged Teams messages about the teacher picking up the student at the end of the evening. The student shared their cellphone number with the teacher. Over the following 16 months, more than 1,000 phone calls were made between them, with many of the calls lasting more than an hour and a half.

According to the consent agreement, the teacher was “dishonest about having contact with the student” when questioned by the B.C. school district. The district reported the teacher to the commissioner on March 8, 2024. The teacher was suspended that day.

More than a month later, on April 17, the teacher’s certificate of qualification was suspended.

The teacher admitted their behaviour constituted professional misconduct. The teacher agreed to the cancellation of their certificate of qualification. The teacher also agreed that for the next 15 years, they would not apply for a certificate of qualification, an independent school teaching certificate or any other authorization to teach in the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system.

The commissioner considered that the teacher’s conduct was “a fundamental breach of a teacher’s duty to students and to the public” and that the teacher was also “dishonest and did not maintain the integrity, credibility and reputation of the profession.”

“The teacher misused their position of power and trust to exploit a student for the teacher’s own personal advantage,” the commissioner wrote.

Consent resolution is when the commissioner and the teacher agree on appropriate consequences, per the provincial government . It is one way that a disciplinary matter can be resolved.

The teacher had received a Professional Certificate of Qualification issued by the B.C. College of Teachers in 2011.

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