B.C. teacher suspended after communicating with student, despite parental objections

A B.C. teacher who communicated with a student about "personal matters" outside of school hours – even after the parents asked him to stop – has been suspended for three days without pay.

The teacher's employer previously suspended him for seven days for the same misconduct, and ordered to complete a course called "Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries" through the Justice Institute of B.C., according to a summary of a consent agreement with the province's commissioner for teacher regulation.

The summary does not name the teacher or reveal which school district he was working for at the time. It also does not specify whether he was teaching elementary or secondary school.

Under B.C.'s Teachers Act, summaries can be published without key details if doing so might "protect the identity of a student who was harmed, abused or exploited" by an educator.

The document does contain a brief description of the teacher's misconduct, which lasted from summer 2022 to the end of February 2023.

"The teacher communicated regularly with (the student) about personal, non-school related matters, outside of school hours," it reads.

"The teacher failed to maintain appropriate boundaries in his communication and interactions."

During some of those conversations, the student shared "personal information" about their "family life and other difficulties," according to the summary.

It also notes the teacher "failed to take appropriate steps to manage the well-being" of the student, whom he hugged "on two occasions."

After the student's parents eventually asked the teacher to stop communicating with their child about non-school matters outside of school hours, he continued doing so for approximately 10 more days.

That aspect of the misconduct undermined the family's "trust and confidence in the educational system," per the commissioner's reasons for issuing another three-day suspension.