Latest news with #teacherregulation
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Yahoo
Teacher in B.C. Interior suspended after telling girls he 'was not a pedophile': regulator
The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation has suspended a teacher in the province's Interior after he reportedly told Grade 11 girls in fitness class that he was "not a pedophile" and touched some of them, making them uncomfortable. Todd Erin Graham consented to a one-day suspension of his teaching certificate and to attend a respectful boundaries course, as part of discipline relating to events in the 2022-23 school year. As part of a consent agreement posted online on Tuesday, the regulator found that Graham was teaching a fitness and conditioning class to Grade 11 students between September and December 2022 when he separated the girls from the boys. "In that meeting, Graham told the girls that he was 'not a pedophile' but that he might have to 'grab them' to show them proper form or to spot them," the consent agreement reads. "Graham then told them that he had no attraction to them as he was 52 and they were 15." The female students reportedly felt uncomfortable after the meeting, with Graham also saying that he would periodically touch students to help them with their form or work muscle groups. Those included occasions when he touched the side of a female student's chest while she was performing a bench press and asked, "Can you feel that?" Graham was also found to have pushed a student's hips while she used a squat rack, and complimented another student's legs while she used a leg press machine. Demeaning comments The regulator also found that he made demeaning comments to both an Indigenous student and a student with diverse needs, while singling them out in front of their classmates in the 2022-23 school year. Following those events, the school district gave him a letter of discipline and ordered him to attend two online courses regarding Indigenous cultural safety and reconciliation. The commissioner's consent agreement says that Graham agreed his actions constituted professional misconduct and agreed to his one-day suspension. "Graham failed to create a positive learning environment or to model appropriate behaviour," the agreement reads. "Graham failed to respect appropriate boundaries, making students feel uncomfortable."
CBC
10-07-2025
- CBC
Teacher in B.C. Interior suspended after telling girls he 'was not a pedophile': regulator
The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation has suspended a teacher in the province's Interior after he reportedly told Grade 11 girls that in fitness class he was "not a pedophile" and touched some of them, making them uncomfortable. Todd Erin Graham consented to a one-day suspension of his teaching certificate and to attend a respectful boundaries course, as part of discipline relating to events in the 2022-23 school year. As part of a consent agreement posted online on Tuesday, the regulator found that Graham was teaching a fitness and conditioning class to Grade 11 students between September and December 2022 when he separated the girls from the boys. "In that meeting, Graham told the girls that he was 'not a pedophile' but that he might have to 'grab them' to show them proper form or to spot them," the consent agreement reads. "Graham then told them that he had no attraction to them as he was 52 and they were 15." The female students reportedly felt uncomfortable after the meeting, with Graham also saying that he would periodically touch students to help them with their form or work muscle groups. Those included occasions when he touched the side of a female student's chest while she was performing a bench press and asked, "Can you feel that?" Graham was also found to have pushed a student's hips while she used a squat rack, and complimented another student's legs while she used a leg press machine. Demeaning comments The regulator also found that he made demeaning comments to both an Indigenous student and a student with diverse needs, while singling them out in front of their classmates in the 2022-23 school year. Following those events, the school district gave him a letter of discipline and ordered him to attend two online courses regarding Indigenous cultural safety and reconciliation. The commissioner's consent agreement says that Graham agreed his actions constituted professional misconduct and agreed to his one-day suspension. "Graham failed to create a positive learning environment or to model appropriate behaviour," the agreement reads.
CBC
25-06-2025
- CBC
Chilliwack, B.C., teacher suspended over inappropriate comments
A teacher in the Chilliwack, B.C., school district was handed a one-day suspension after the province's regulator found he made inappropriate comments to vulnerable students. Robert Luke Acheson was an inclusion teacher in School District 33 in the 2022-23 school year when he made the comments, according to a consent agreement posted by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation. The commissioner found that Acheson made comments to students about their physical appearance, and also referenced another staff member's appearance to students, on several occasions. In addition, Acheson was found to have shared an inappropriate personal story about his high school girlfriend, which included sexual details. He consented to a one-day suspension of his teaching certificate, admitting that his conduct constituted professional misconduct, having also told another story about a "traumatic personal incident" that included sexual details. "Acheson failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries in discussions with students, by sharing inappropriate stories that included inappropriate content of a sexual nature, and by inappropriately commenting on the appearance of students and other staff," the consent document reads. In addition to the one-day suspension, Acheson was suspended for 15 days without pay by the school district after being reported in June 2023. He was also ordered to take a course on respectful professional boundaries, which he completed in August 2023, and was no longer permitted to undertake work with vulnerable students.
CBC
18-06-2025
- CBC
B.C. principal who spanked student, made anti-Indigenous comments receives suspension
Social Sharing A former principal at a B.C. elementary school has been suspended for three days and ordered to take two educational courses after she spanked a First Nations student, according to a consent resolution agreement posted by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation. Pehgee Agnes Boholst Aranas, who was employed by a First Nation at a certified band school, was first reported to the commissioner in December 2023. It came a month after she spanked a Grade 1 student. The name of the school was not disclosed in the agreement to protect the student's identity. In January 2024, Aranas signed an undertaking to prevent nearly all physical contact with any student at any school where she was working. The First Nation ended her employment at the school in May of that year. After signing the consent agreement, her teaching certificate has been suspended for three days and she has agreed to take a course on creating a positive learning environment and another on systemic racism. "Her actions perpetuated the harmful legacy of physical abuse in Indian Residential Schools and reflected a belief in harmful stereotypes," the commissioner wrote in the consent agreement. "Her actions harmed [the student], negatively impacted the community's feelings of trust and safety in the education system and did not contribute towards truth, reconciliation and healing." Principal claimed parents approved In November 2023, after the spanking of the Grade 1 student, an employee — known in the agreement as Employee A — reported Aranas to administrators. According to the consent agreement, Aranas met with members of the First Nation shortly after the spanking, and falsely claimed the student's parents approved of her actions. She also "made comments which were inconsistent with truth, reconciliation and healing." The agreement states that after the meeting, Aranas was placed on leave pending an investigation, and was told not to discuss details of the matter with other employees. "Aranas did not follow the First Nation's direction, and shared details about what had occurred with [the student] with at least two of her colleagues at the school, telling them that Employee A had reported on her," the agreement reads. In June 2021, the principal received a written warning for anti-Indigenous comments she made in an email to an employee who was sick. "Suck it up, buttercup!!! The symptoms are just injection symptoms and not actual sickness! Tough native men like you have survived worse??? Lol," reads the email quoted in the consent agreement. In addition to a three-day suspension, Aranas agreed she would complete a course about systemic racism in Canada through the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, in addition to a course about creating a positive learning environment.
