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BC elementary school principal suspended for duct-taping student to seat

The principal of an elementary school in British Columbia has been punished for duct-taping a student to their seat to help them “focus on their work.”

Renee Dawn MacCormack, who worked for School District No. 5 in the Kootenays during the incident, also gave another school employee permission to duct-tape a child to their seat.

The BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulations said MacCormack’s actions, which occurred during the 2023-24 school year, were “inappropriate.”

The affected student was not treated with “dignity and respect,” the regulator said in its report, which was released this week.

The report details the incidents as follows: “MacCormack gave permission to an employee at the school to use duct tape to tape a student (the “Student”) to their seat to help the Student focus on their work.

<who> Photo credit: 123RF

“MacCormack also put duct tape on the Student to attach the Student to their seat.

“MacCormack came by some time later and took a picture of the Student’s work, helped to remove the duct tape, and gave the Student a prize for completing the assigned work.

“After this incident, when the District started an investigation, MacCormack did not say that she was involved, that she told the employee that it was okay to duct-tape the Student to the chair, or that she also participated in duct-taping the Student.”

As a consequence of the above, MacCormack was reassigned to another school and suspended for 20 days without pay.

She was later investigated by the Commissioner, who determined that MacCormack had committed professional misconduct.

The regulator separately suspended her for five days and forced her to complete a course on “creating a positive learning environment.”

“MacCormack did not act in the Student’s best interests nor treat the Student with dignity and respect,” the Commissioner’s report says.

“MacCormack had a leadership role as a principal and she ought to have known that duct-taping a student to a chair was inappropriate; other staff at the School were aware that it was inappropriate.

“MacCormack did not act with integrity when she did not disclose to the District in a timely manner her participation in the duct-taping of the Student. This conduct undermines the perception of the profession as a whole.”



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