The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Provincial Executive Council met Aug. 11 in Banff

1. Consistent with section 31(2) of the Teaching Profession Act, extended to Nov. 30, 2014, the deadline for the commencement of a hearing of the Professional Conduct Committee.

PEC met Sept. 18 and 19 at Barnett House

1. Directed the Association to urge the government of Alberta to take ownership of the legislated settlement and direct school boards and superintendents to comply with the requirements of the Assurance for Students Act and produce tangible results by the end of the 2014/15 school year.
2. Directed the Association to urge Minister of Education Gordon Dirks to direct school boards that cannot provide adequate time for their Grade 3 teachers to collaborate and to evaluate the Grade 3 student learning assessments to withdraw from the pilot.
3. Directed that a local presidents’ meeting be scheduled for the Friday evening prior to the start of the 2015 Annual Representative Assembly (ARA) and that the draft 2015/16 budget include funding for the meeting on a regular basis.
4. Approved St. Thomas Aquinas Teachers’ Local No. 45 and chartered it effective July 1, 2014.
5. Approved, with amendments, recommendations on 110 expiring current directives for submission to the 2015 ARA.
6. Approved in principle and referred to the resolutions committee for processing for the 2015 ARA a resolution urging school boards to manage their substitute teacher rosters so as to ensure that all teacher requests are filled while ensuring that those who substitute teach full-time maintain a living wage.
    
7. Received the report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct:

1) For making derogatory statements toward students, in front of other students and staff, thus failing to treat students with dignity and respect

2) For bullying and intimidating staff, thus acting in a manner that failed to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession

3) For criticizing the professional reputation of colleagues, contrary to section 13 of the Code of Professional Conduct

To address the first charge, the hearing committee imposed the penalty of a letter of severe reprimand, a declaration of ineligibility for membership in the Association for a period of six months and a recommendation to the minister of education to suspend the teacher’s teaching certificate for a period of six months.

To address the second charge, the hearing committee imposed the penalty of a letter of severe reprimand, a declaration of ineligibility for membership in the Association for a period of six months and a recommendation to the minister of education to suspend the teacher’s teaching certificate for a period of six months.

To address the third charge, the hearing committee imposed the penalty of a letter of severe reprimand.

The hearing committee intends that the suspensions run concurrently so that the effective total suspension would be for a period of six months.

8. Received the report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of one charge of unprofessional conduct for using a medical day to travel outside of Canada on personal business, thereby failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession. The hearing committee determined that, while it made a finding of unprofessional conduct, it would not make an order, under section 42(1) of the Teaching Profession Act, imposing a penalty.
9. Received the report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of four charges of unprofessional conduct:

1) For engaging in conduct for which the teacher was convicted of an indictable offence. The teacher, being in a position of trust or authority toward a young person, did for a sexual purpose touch directly the body of a young person with a part of the teacher’s body (to wit, penis) contrary to section 153(A) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

2) For engaging in conduct for which the teacher was convicted of an indictable offence. The teacher — being at large on his recognizance entered into before a justice and being bound to comply with a condition of that recognizance requiring the teacher to have no contact, direct or indirect, with a young person — did fail without lawful excuse to comply with that condition, contrary to section 145(3) of the Criminal Code of Canada.

3) For failing to treat students with dignity and respect and failing to be considerate of their circumstances.

4) For failing to act in a manner that maintains the honour and dignity of the profession.

10. To address all four charges, the hearing committee imposed the penalty of a declaration of ineligibility for membership in the Association and a recommendation to the minister of education to cancel the teacher’s teaching certificate.

Received the report of an appeal committee, which upheld Council’s appeal of the order of a hearing committee on the grounds that the penalty was too lenient, did not fit the nature of the offences and did not address the Association’s responsibility of ensuring that students are treated with dignity and respect by their teachers. The appeal committee ordered that the penalty be varied to increase the period of the teacher’s ineligibility for membership in the Association from one year to three years and to increase the recommended suspension of the teacher’s teaching certificate from one year to three years.

The hearing committee had found a teacher guilty of two charges of unprofessional conduct for engaging in an inappropriate electronic relationship with a former student and, in so doing, failing to treat the student with dignity and respect and to be considerate of the student’s circumstances and for failing to act in a manner that maintains the honour and dignity of the profession when the teacher allowed, encouraged and participated in an inappropriate electronic relationship with a former student. To address both charges, the hearing committee imposed the penalty of declaring the teacher ineligible for membership in the Association for a period of one year and recommending to the minister of education that the teacher’s teaching certificate be suspended for a period of one year.

11. Received the report of an appeal committee, which dismissed on equal division the teacher’s appeal of the order of a hearing committee on several grounds. The hearing committee had found a teacher guilty of two charges of unprofessional conduct for sending an email critical of another teacher’s teaching practice to school administration without previously providing the other teacher with a copy of the email and for meeting with school administration outside of the other teacher’s knowledge and criticizing the other teacher’s teaching. The hearing committee imposed the penalty of a single letter of severe reprimand to address both charges.
     
12. Approved a statement of Association program emphases for 2014/15.
13. Established a committee on ATA 100th anniversary planning.
14. Established a committee on future SARO (Southern Alberta Regional Office) building needs.
15. Offered the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation a no-interest demand loan.
16. Approved a grant to the Syndicat des enseignantes et enseignants du programme francophone de la Colombie-Brittanique.
17. Approved the Association’s 2014/15 capital budget.
18. Approved disbursement of the 2014/15 budget for international assistance to 12 international projects, including Project Overseas.
19. Authorized an overexpenditure to provide for the production of web-based videos on maternity and parental leave, related employment insurance, and pay and benefit entitlements.
20. Authorized an overexpenditure to complete a film promoting the Association’s International Cooperation program.
21. Authorized an overexpenditure to continue the Association’s Me to We Kenya project.
22. Approved a donation to Canada Without Poverty.
23. Approved a donation to the Media Awareness Network.
     
24. Authorized the purchase of a table package of eight seats at Public Interest Alberta’s Gala Dinner and Fundraiser, scheduled for Oct. 22 in Edmonton.
25. Named field members to fill vacancies on Association and other external committees.  ❚