Ontario College of Teachers

The Member, a teacher, pled guilty to professional misconduct for repeatedly engaging in inappropriate electronic communications with students, altering student photos, and using a false identity on social media to contact a student regarding a school yearbook, contrary to his principal's directions.

The Discipline Committee accepted the guilty plea and found the Member committed professional misconduct including verbal and emotional abuse.

A majority of the panel accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and completion of a course on boundaries and professional ethics.

One panel member dissented on penalty, finding a 12-month suspension was warranted given the severity of the boundary violations and the Member's prior disciplinary history.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought professional misconduct allegations against the Member for purchasing and consuming alcohol and marijuana with two underage former students at their home without parental knowledge.

The Member pleaded guilty to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including disgraceful, dishonourable, and unprofessional conduct.

The parties presented an amended joint submission on penalty after the Committee expressed concerns that the initial proposal of a three-month suspension was inadequate.

Applying the public interest test, the Committee accepted the amended joint submission, ordering a reprimand, an eight-month suspension, and the completion of coursework on professional boundaries.

The Member, a teacher, pleaded no contest to allegations of professional misconduct arising from inappropriate electronic communications with students on a school board social media platform.

The communications included sexualized language, disparaging comments about students and staff, and the sharing of confidential information.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct and sexual misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a six-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of a course on professional boundaries and social media use.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member for professional misconduct involving verbal, physical, and psychological abuse of multiple students over several years.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations, admitting to incidents such as hitting a student with a workbook, grabbing students, and yelling in close proximity to them.

The Discipline Committee accepted the uncontested facts and found the member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a five-month suspension of the member's certificate, and the successful completion of a classroom management course before returning to teaching.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for failing to maintain appropriate boundaries with students, including inappropriate physical contact, texting students on her personal phone, and showing favouritism to male student athletes.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct and accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a two-month suspension of her teaching certificate, and the completion of a boundary violations course.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for making inappropriate comments to students about their weight and clothing, and for physically tripping students.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including verbal and emotional abuse, unprofessional conduct, and conduct unbecoming a member.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a five-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of a course on boundaries, noting the Member's prior discipline history for similar conduct as an aggravating factor.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of incompetence following three unsatisfactory performance appraisals under the New Teacher Induction Program.

The appraisals identified deficiencies in lesson planning, instructional strategies, student assessment, and classroom management.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member incompetent and accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering that terms, conditions, or limitations be placed on his Certificate of Qualification and Registration, including the completion of an Additional Qualification course and subsequent performance appraisals upon returning to teaching.

The member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct relating to inappropriate physical and emotional interactions with three students across different academic years.

The member pleaded no contest to the allegations, admitting to physically redirecting students, pushing a student's chair causing him to fall, and initiating an unauthorized one-on-one behaviour monitoring program that caused emotional distress.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, including physical and emotional abuse, and failing to maintain professional standards.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a four-month suspension of the member's teaching certificate, and mandatory coursework on classroom management and professional boundaries.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for verbally and physically abusing a student.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations, admitting to raising her voice in anger at students and making unnecessary physical contact with a student that caused him to fall off his chair.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a four-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of coursework addressing professional boundaries and classroom management.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought disciplinary proceedings against a member for professional misconduct, including allegations of sexual abuse of a student.

The member pleaded no contest to an agreed statement of facts detailing an inappropriate personal and sexual relationship with a vulnerable student, which included lengthy electronic communications and clandestine meetings.

The Discipline Committee found the member guilty of professional misconduct, including sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and disgraceful conduct.

Applying the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's teaching certificate and issued a reprimand.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw the allegations against the member set out in a Notice of Hearing.

The member had passed away prior to the hearing.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that the withdrawal of the Notice of Hearing in the circumstances of the member's death was reasonable and appropriate.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct against a retired member.

The parties agreed to the withdrawal in exchange for the member's resignation and an undertaking never to teach in Ontario again or seek reinstatement.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that the withdrawal was reasonable and protected the public interest, as the member would never again be in a position to pose a risk to the public through teaching.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a discipline proceeding against a member who had been criminally convicted of communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services for consideration.

The member had approached a person under 18 years old on the street and offered money for oral sex.

The Discipline Committee found that the member's conduct constituted professional misconduct, including sexual abuse of a student, as the victim met the statutory definition of a student.

Pursuant to the mandatory penalty provisions of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, the Committee ordered the immediate revocation of the member's certificate of qualification and registration, and directed that the member receive a written reprimand.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw the allegations of professional misconduct against the member, citing insufficient evidence and no reasonable prospect of a finding.

The member consented to the motion.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding that it was not in the public interest to proceed with a matter where there was no reasonable prospect of obtaining a finding of professional misconduct.

The Member, a short-term occasional teacher, pled no contest to allegations of professional misconduct relating to several incidents of inadequate student supervision and poor classroom management.

The incidents included leaving young students unsupervised, delaying students' departure causing them to miss their bus, losing track of a student, and yelling at a student in front of peers.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including failing to maintain professional standards, psychological abuse, and failing to adequately supervise students.

The Committee accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of a classroom management course before returning to teaching.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct against the member.

The parties agreed to the withdrawal in exchange for the member's undertaking to irrevocably resign, surrender his teaching certificate, and never seek reinstatement or teach in Ontario again.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding it was in the public interest given the member's undertaking and the significant evidentiary challenges that would have made obtaining a finding of professional misconduct difficult.

The Ontario College of Teachers brought a motion seeking leave to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence against the Member.

The allegations arose from three unsatisfactory performance appraisals, but a grievance arbitrator subsequently found the Member should have received specific supports and a re-appraisal.

In exchange for the withdrawal, the Member signed an Undertaking and Acknowledgement agreeing to complete an additional qualification course and undergo further performance appraisals upon returning to teaching.

The Discipline Committee granted the motion, finding it was in the public interest as the Undertaking provided similar public protection to what would likely have been ordered following a contested hearing.

The Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers found the member engaged in professional misconduct.

The panel accepted a joint submission on penalty, ordering a reprimand, a three-month suspension, and the completion of coursework on boundaries and professional ethics.

One panel member dissented on the length of the suspension, stating a 12-month suspension would have been appropriate.

The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for verbally, physically, and emotionally abusing students.

The Member yelled at students, used inappropriate language, and used unnecessary physical force.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee accepted the uncontested facts and found the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the successful completion of an anger management course.

The Member, a teacher, pleaded guilty to professional misconduct after repeatedly engaging in aggressive, violent, and threatening behaviour towards his Principal and colleagues.

The Discipline Committee accepted an Agreed Statement of Facts and Joint Submission on Penalty, finding the Member guilty of professional misconduct.

The Committee ordered a reprimand, a three-month suspension of his teaching certificate, and the completion of a conflict resolution and anger management course.