A middle school teacher in BC is facing some consequences after emailing a student’s parents to criticize the child and parents.
The Okanagan Skaha School District reported to the Teachers Act commissioner about Miko McGrady, one of its teachers.
According to the discipline documents, McGrady emailed a student’s parents in early February 2023 to say their child was “capable of being a good student,” but he also had concerns about their “conduct in the classroom on more than one occasion.”
McGrady wrote that the student was wasting their own time and “warming a seat while distracting others.”
In the email, the teacher continued questioning whether other education options, like an online math program or “homeschooling,” might be more beneficial.
“McGrady noted that if Student A had been his child, he would take away some or all of Student A’s privileges,” the discipline documents read.
The student’s mother reportedly said the email made it seem the child’s parents “looked like bad parents.”
Teacher’s rocky past
In a separate incident, discipline documents described another encounter McGrady had with students. According to the documents, when he was teaching a Grade 8 class, a student (listed as Student B) asked if they could go to the washroom.
McGrady allowed the student to go but asked them to leave their phones in their lockers, but the student did not.
After Student B left, two other students (Students C and D) who were friends of Student B offered to go and look for them –McGrady allowed.
After the two students returned and said they couldn’t find their friend but had an idea where they might be, McGrady responded by giving Students C and D his personal cell phone, with the camera open, and sent them out to find and photograph Student B using their cell phone without permission.
The students later found their friend in the washroom but did not take a picture using McGrady’s phone. They then reported back to McGrady.
The Okanagan Skaha School District has already raised concerns about McGrady’s respect for students’ boundaries and appropriate relationships with them, going back more than a decade.
Consequences
The District has since issued McGrady a letter of discipline and expected him to complete Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries Training. He has since completed the course.
According to the disciple documents, McGrady “acknowledged that he made errors” and admitted to professional misconduct.