Grad party kiss with ‘vulnerable’ student gets a BC teacher banned for 15 years

A former high school teacher has received a 15-year ban for allegedly kissing a “vulnerable” student at a graduation party.

According to a consent agreement posted by the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, the commissioner suspended the teacher’s certificate in September 2022 following a report from the district.

The teacher and school district are not named in order “to protect the identity of students who were harmed, abused or exploited by the teacher,” the commissioner says.

According to the agreement, which was posted May 21 and summarizes the events leading to the ban, the “vulnerable” student was taught by the teacher.

On the day of the student’s graduation, the teacher’s adult children held a party at the teacher’s house while they were “out for dinner.”

The commissioner says the teacher’s children were over the age of 19 and other attendees were university students who were legal drinking age.

The commissioner says the student, who was not old enough to be drinking, attended the party and drank alcohol while in the teachers house.

The teacher came home after the party had started and reportedly knew alcohol was present.

However, the decision says the teacher did not know the student had been drinking.

“At one point, the Teacher kissed Student A on the lips. This was photographed and circulated on social media,” the commissioner says in the agreement.

According to the commissioner, the teacher’s actions were “part of a pattern of boundary issues” and “endangered the emotional safety of the student.

Shortly after the incident, the teacher left the district and eventually entered into a consent resolution agreement with the commissioner.

In that agreement, the teacher admitted that their conduct “constitutes professional misconduct.”

The teacher agreed to the cancellation of their teaching qualification certificate and 15-year ban from teaching in BC.