Welcome to the C O A T S website

What's New This Month

What's New Archives
(prior months)

Related Websites

WHAT'S NEW - JULY 2004

RECENT TEACHER CONDUCT DECISIONS

Welcome to the website for the Council on Alberta Teaching Standards (COATS). This area of the website changes monthly. The theme for this month will be of interest to teachers, administrators, and parents who are investigating issues of education law and recent teacher conduct decisions. The section below identifies several weblinks related to the topic. We hope that you find this website to be a valuable resource. For quick reference bookmark http://www.teachingquality.ab.ca today!

WEBSITES RELATED TO EDUCATION LAW AND RECENT TEACHER CONDUCT DECISIONS

Avalanche Tragedy: Lessons to be Learned
Copyright © 2003 by "LawNow"
Eleanor Doctor
Legal Studies Program
Faculty of Extension
University of Alberta
http://www.lawnow.org/Education286.pdf

This website makes available an article from the legal magazine "LawNow." The particular incident examined involves the Connaught Creek, British Columbia avalanche that resulted in tragedy for school students from Alberta in February 2003. This article highlights features of the report completed in the aftermath of the avalanche, which resulted in some 31 recommendations. The commentary underlines the responsibilities of teachers "in loco parentis" as well as the consensual responsibility of the students' parents. The article concludes with a set of questions designed to assist school personnel in assessing potential risks when students are engaged in outdoor education.

The Crushing of Dissent Continues. 2003
http://www.damianpenny.com/archived/001461.html

This website editorializes on the one-month suspension of British Columbia teacher Christopher Kempling by the British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT). Mr. Kempling was sanctioned by the BCCT for advancing his views against a gay lifestyle outside the classroom. The case remains a flash point for controversy. The comments made in this article point out some similarities to the case of Malcolm Ross, a Moncton, New Brunswick, mathematics teacher who was dismissed in the 1980s for publishing discriminatory opinions outside the classroom.

Discipline Decisions
British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT)
Vancouver BC
http://bcct.ca/documents/rtm14_4.pdf

This online newsletter entitled "Report to Members" (pages 5 to 8) provides details regarding several disciplinary decisions falling within the jurisdiction of the British Columbia College of Teachers. The six decisions directly concern the professional misconduct of particular teachers, and are presented in a case summary format. The penalties imposed vary from a letter of reprimand, to suspension of a teaching qualification, to loss of a teaching qualification, to termination of membership in the BCCT. The case summaries serve to notify teachers of the standard of conduct expected of teachers.

Education Law Reporter: Elementary and Secondary Schools
Education Law Infosource Ltd.
Calgary AB
http://www.edlawcanada.com/elementary/ES-frame.htm

"The Education Law Reporter" presents recent case decisions related to teacher conduct. As its title indicates, this publication focuses on the realm of education law. The periodical is national in scope and includes cases from across Canada. The reports and the legal information they contain are intended for an audience of teachers, principals and school administrators as well as school board members. The language is suitable for non-lawyers as well as for lawyers. In addition, this website gives accounts of three cases classified under the title of "Teachers/Employees and the Law" under the sidebar "Sample Articles." The reports highlight such elements as the facts of the case, the relevant law, and the court decision as well as pertinent applications.

Frequently Asked Questions: Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)
Department of Justice Canada
http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/faq/faq.html

Teachers' work can bring them into contact with youths who are accused of committing crimes. This web page offers a set of frequently asked questions explaining the nature of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), which came into effect in April 2003. This new legislation is part of a major restructuring of the youth justice system and was required to address perceived inadequacies in the Young Offenders Act of 1984, which it replaced. Question 3, for example, in this set of FAQs compares features of the two pieces of legislation. Question 5 offers extended commentary on the new legislation, which is intended to be of use to those who work with youth justice. As part of their duty to provide care for students "in loco parentis," teachers can be considered to have an obligation to be conversant with relevant provisions of the new legislation. More commentary is available online at the following web page: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/dept/pub/ycja/youth.html.

A Guide to Saskatchewan School Law
Edited by Walker, K. & Chomos, J.
Saskatoon SK
http://www.usask.ca/education/selu/sklawguide/

As professors of education at the University of Saskatchewan, Walker and Chomos have assembled this legal resource under the auspices of the Saskatchewan Educational Leadership Unit. In general terms, this 13-chapter guide provides a practical orientation to the field of school law. The document is intended for a broad audience of education professionals and community members interested in education. Chapter 3 deals specifically with teachers and their legal status. An understanding of school law in Saskatchewan can be relevant elsewhere in Canada because of the importance of precedence in case law and because of the similarities in school law among Canada's provinces.

This online pamphlet announces a national conference to be held in Regina, Saskatchewan in May 2005. Entitled "The Law as an Agent of Change in Education," the conference will address matters of concern for educators, lawyers and other parties interested in education law. The Canadian Association for the Practical Study of Law in Education (CAPSLE) is a national Canadian organization dedicated to the study of legal issues affecting education.

Nova Scotia Teachers and the Law. 2004
The Nova Scotia Educational Leadership Consortium
Dartmouth NS
http://www.nselc.ednet.ns.ca/nstl/question_of_the_month.htm

This webpage presents a set of legal questions and answers of possible interest to teachers and school administrators. Individual teachers have submitted items addressed in the "Question of the Month." The collection deals with these issues: harassment of a teacher, continuing employment of a teacher, non-custodial parents of students, students with special needs, and school attendance. An understanding of school law in Nova Scotia can be relevant elsewhere in Canada because of the importance of precedence in case law and because of the similarities in school law among Canada's provinces.

Professionally Speaking.
© 2002 Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)
Toronto ON
http://www.oct.ca/english/ps/june_2002/blue13.asp

This webpage reports a series of 10 discipline panel decisions made by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). "Professionally Speaking" publicizes the instances of professional misconduct and states the penalties imposed on the teachers found guilty of inappropriate behavior. The penalties for the professional misconduct varied with the infractions. The penalties included loss of qualification and revocation of certificate, and an order to obtain counseling, among others. A related collection of five more recent cases can be located at http://www.oct.ca/en/CollegePublications/PS/june_2004/bluepages_11.asp.

Section 43 of the Criminal Code (Corporal Punishment)
Department of Justice Canada
http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/news/fs/2004/doc_31114.html

This news release from Ottawa, dated January 2004, reports the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCCC) to uphold the constitutionality of Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Historically, this provision of the Criminal Code has been used to support the legal right of parents to inflict corporal punishment on their children. The same provision provides a legal basis to defend the use of corporal punishment by teachers who act in the place of a parent, that is, "'in loco parentis". This recent decision reaffirms the legality of using reasonable force where the intention is to educate the child. The Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law had initiated the challenge to the constitutionality of Section 43 in 1998. This recent decision by the SCCC supported the decision of two lower courts, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 2000, and the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2002.