B.C. teacher disciplined for taking sides in family law dispute with 'biased and unprofessional' court statement
CTV
A B.C. teacher has been reprimanded for taking sides in a family law dispute involving a student's parents.
A B.C. teacher has been reprimanded for taking sides in a family law dispute involving a student's parents.
The teacher – whose name is not published in a summary of a consent agreement posted on the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation's website Tuesday – provided a written statement about the student to one of the parents for use in legal proceedings, according to the summary.
The teacher's name and gender, as well as the location of the school where the teacher was working, are all withheld from the summary pursuant to a section of the provincial Teachers Act intended "to protect the identity of a student who was harmed, abused or exploited by the teacher."
According to the summary, the teacher has held a professional certificate since 2005 and was working on call at an elementary school when the misconduct occurred.
The school district reported the conduct to the commissioner in November 2023.
"The teacher became involved in a dispute between parents about custody and access of their child (the student), whom the teacher had taught," the summary reads. "The teacher provided a written statement about the student to one of the parents to use in legal proceedings."
In the statement, the teacher shared information about the student that they had obtained in their role as a teacher and "made biased and unprofessional comments about the student’s parents," according to the consent agreement summary.
