Filing complaints with regulatory bodies is a way to keep people safe and reduce the risk of harm to others. I want to remind people it’s not just teachers that can have complaints filed against them. But any certificate holder. That means teachers, principals, district staff, and the Superintendent. But not the Secretary-Treasurer. They are not certificate holders.
The Professional Conduct Branch in the Ministry of Education and Child Care (Teacher’s Regulation Branch) has recently released two new decisions.
I am focusing on this one because it involves a principal.
This person thought it would be a good idea to duct tape a child to their chair to “help the Student focus on their work.”
I deeply look forward to the day when educators stop associating sitting still with learning and focus.
We have an important consent resolution that has rightfully been making the news.
The Professional Conduct Unit (formerly Teachers Regulation Branch) doesn’t have a great track record.
In fact, most of the complaints parents file lead to “no action”. It has been confusing, disheartening, and a punch in the gut for many that leads us to question the legitimacy of this department in the Ministry of Education and Child Care that should be protecting the most vulnerable.
As shown by the annual reports by the Professional Conduct Unit, you can see for yourself.
In the year 2021-2202 out of 242 complaints/reports only 28 led to a consent resolution. If you read through them all, you will get a clear sense of which ones make it through. Most of them are sexual offences or related to physical safety.
There is a lot more going on in schools, unfortunately, that require action in order to keep kids safe from harm beyond just their physical bodies. Based on self-reporting of parents, especially for kids who are disabled, they just aren’t making it through, even when the human rights tribunal is accepting the same complaints from the same parents. Here is the discipline database.
Thankfully, most teachers will never experience this process because, well, they are just absolutely fabulous who have a genuine care for children. All of us parents and society will forever been in their debt. Forever and ever.
Other people….chose the wrong career.
Even though the TRB rarely, and I mean rarely, releases a consent resolution connected to a student with a disability, this recent case highlights that the teacher wasn’t aware of the students IEP and Safety plan, when they should have been, and states the incident has caused the student anxiety.
I was hoping this story would make the news.
And it did.
Many parents feel that IEP’s don’t get the respect they deserve. Some teachers follow them to a tee fully embracing them, and others completely ignore them. Ignore an IEP and safety plan and we could end up seeing you in the news one day.
Here is the full consent resolution that is posted on the Ministry of Education and Child Care’s website. Parents, you may want to keep this one on your computer. An advocacy tool.
Bellow are news articles on this important consent resolution. I will update them as they are posted in the media.
