EDMONTON – Alberta’s education minister says “nothing is off the table,” following revelations that the province’s teachers’ association failed to report one of its members to police who had admitted to “physically abusing and mentally from his students. “
This week, a proposed $ 40 million class action lawsuit was filed, alleging that former high school teacher Michael Gregory had abused about 200 children between 1989 and 2005 at John Ware Junior High in Calgary.
The lawsuit, filed by alumni, named the heirs of Gregory, who died earlier this year, and the Calgary Board of Education as defendants.
It emerged that in 2006, the Alberta Teachers Association investigated Gregory and found that he had abused children at John Ware High School. He also “coerced and manipulated the students for his own benefit,” an investigation concluded. But that information in 2006 was not passed on to the police.
“As clearly highlighted in this case, the teaching discipline process needs to be improved,” Education Minister Adriana LaGrange told reporters on Wednesday.
A statement from the Alberta Teachers Association said this week that “the role of the association is to receive complaints and evaluate those complaints in relation to the standards for teaching.”
“If we were to initiate a complaint elsewhere, it could lead to a bias apprehension and potentially jeopardize the results of our legislative processes,” the spokesperson said.
But LaGrange said he “fully” hopes that “in any case involving criminal charges or potentially criminal behavior, the ATA and school authorities will take that information to the proper authorities as soon as possible.”
“I find it unacceptable for an organization to say, ‘That’s not my problem,'” he said. “We are currently examining what additional measures we can take to ensure the safety of students in the classroom.”
The Alberta Teachers Association also said that “the nature” of “many of the more recent allegations” regarding Gregory were not part of the 2006 investigation.
Currently, there is no mandate for the ATA to publicly report teacher misconduct findings in Alberta. Some provinces, including Ontario and British Columbia, have professional bodies that publicly publish findings of teacher misconduct on an ongoing basis.
Alberta recently passed Bill 85, the Students First Act, which aims to help change the situation in this province and establish an online portal where teacher certificate status can be found for individuals working in the profession. LaGrange said, however, that the ATA’s failure to notify police of Gregory’s conduct in 2006 was proof that more needed to be done.
Jonathan Teghtmeyer, a communications officer for the ATA, said the association would not oppose the kinds of changes the minister suggested on Wednesday, depending on how they were implemented.
“It is very rare that the first point of complaint in these cases is for us, especially when there are criminal complaints involved,” Teghtmeyer said.
In Gregory’s 2006 case, he would be declared ineligible for association membership for two years and recommended to the minister of education that his teaching certificate be suspended for two years. Gregory did not teach again afterwards.
Experts have said the case underscores the need for an independent body to deal with the allegations brought against the teachers.
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit say Gregory groomed and sexually abused minors for years and that school officials failed to act.
He made inappropriate comments to underage students, asked them to perform sexual acts, gave them gifts and went on field trips with them, according to the plaintiffs. The sexual abuse would continue, according to the lawsuit’s statement.
Three plaintiffs in the court action say Gregory never concealed his behavior at school and are holding the Calgary Board of Education accountable.
In early 2021, Gregory died on Quadra Island in British Columbia in an apparent suicide just days after he was charged with 17 counts of sex crimes involving six former students. Police say the first complaint came to them in 2020, sparking the investigation.
Since then, Calgary police say 35 witnesses have presented information, as well as 10 other victims. The investigation continues.
The figure of 200 victims, cited in the lawsuit, has not been publicly corroborated by the authorities.
CORRECTION – December 1, 2021 – This story has been updated to correct the time period stated by the Alberta Teachers Association Michael Gregory is not eligible for membership.
Reference-www.thestar.com