A shocking disciplinary outcome was published earlier this week by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation involving a teacher from the province’s interior and his conduct with some students.
The outcome involved a high school teacher named Todd Erin Graham.
According to the summary consent resolution agreement, the school district Graham worked at made a report to the commissioner about him regarding events that took place in the 2022/2023 school year, while he was teaching at the school.
Graham had singled out a student in front of their classmates, describing them using “an unflattering term.”
The agreement also states he singled out an Indigenous student in front of their classmates in “a manner which was demeaning to Student B specifically and to Indigenous peoples generally.”
In August 2024, the district submitted another report to the commissioner regarding a separate matter that occurred in December 2022. The agreement refers to an incident involving Students A, B, and C, who were all Grade 11 students, in a fitness and conditioning class taught by Graham.
Graham had separated the boys and girls for a meeting, and during that meeting, he told the girls that he was “not a pedophile” but that he might have to “grab them” to show them proper form or spot them.
He told the girls that he had no attraction to them, because he was 52 and they were 15 years old. The students reported feeling uncomfortable after the interaction.
The agreement goes on to state that the teacher would periodically touch the students to help them with their form or identify the muscle groups they were working out, which also left some students feeling uncomfortable.
The agreement provides an example of a student lying on a bench and doing a bench press, when Graham touched the side of her chest to ask if she could feel the muscle group being worked out. In a separate instance, while a student was using the squat rack, he pushed on their hips. In a third incident, Graham complimented a student’s legs, leaving her feeling uncomfortable.
Graham agreed that his actions constituted professional misconduct.
The commissioner determined that a one-day suspension and a course on boundaries were appropriate consequences.
“Graham agreed that he will not make any statement orally or in writing which contradicts,
disputes or calls into question the terms of the consent resolution agreement or the
admissions made in it,” the agreement added.
Do you agree that the consequences fit the misconduct?
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