Surrey teacher's counselling of students overstepped 'professional boundaries,' discipline authority says

An empty classroom is seen in this undated file photo.

British Columbia's Commissioner for Teacher Regulation has suspended a Surrey teacher for three days because he had personal discussions with students that were "in the nature of counselling," despite not being the students' counsellor.

An online summary of the consent resolution agreement between teacher Jeffrey Stephen Box and the commissioner provides little detail on the circumstances of Box's misconduct. 

It says only that Box - a high school teacher in Surrey - had the counselling-like discussions with "at least four students" during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years.

"In June of 2019 and in the fall of 2019, Box was told by School administrators not to take on a counselling role with students," the summary reads. "Despite this direction, Box engaged in discussions of a counselling nature with students and on two occasions he hugged students who were upset."

Box's consent resolution agreement with the commissioner acknowledges that these interactions constituted professional misconduct and were contrary to Standard 1 of the Standards for the Education, Competence and Professional Conduct of Educators in British Columbia. 

Noting that teachers often find themselves in a position to provide advice and guidance to students, CTV News asked the Ministry of Education for more explanation on what, exactly, had made Box's behaviour inappropriate.

Citing a need to protect privacy, the ministry said in a statement that it cannot comment on specific matters before the Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, who is an independent statutory decision maker.

The ministry said all of the commissioner's decisions list the factors that led to the chosen penalty.

In Box's case, the summary indicates, the commissioner considered that the teacher's conduct "showed a lack of understanding of appropriate professional boundaries" and went against the wishes of school administrators.

"Issues such as whether counselling students is appropriate in a given situation involve applying a lens of professional boundaries," the ministry said in its statement.

"Boundary questions, such as inappropriate self-disclosure, misuse of power or authority, and ignoring institutional policies that may come up in the context of inappropriate counselling-type interactions with students engage an educator’s responsibility under Standard 1. Standard 1 requires educators to act in the best interest of all students, and recognize that they hold a privileged position of power and trust."

In addition to the three-day suspension of his teaching certificate, Box must complete additional training on professional boundaries by March 31, 2023, according to the summary.

The Surrey School District also suspended Box for five days without pay in September 2020.