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A secondary school teacher in the Central Okanagan has been disciplined for conduct concerning female students in fall 2021.
Justin Enns, s Grade 10 teacher at School District 23, agreed with the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation that his behaviour amounted to professional misconduct.
According to the Commissioner’s report, which was released on Tuesday, Enns had previously been warned about his behaviour on three other occasions – in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
The latest incident happened in October and early November 2021 when, according to the report, Enns reportedly made a student feel “uncomfortable and embarrassed” for taking off a second layer of clothing due to the hot classroom and adjusting their undershirt.
“Student B was in the class with Student A and seeing Student A was upset got up to leave the classroom. Enns stopped Student B and asked Student B if Student A would come back to discuss the matter with him,” the report states.
“Enns said to Student B that Student A had been grabbing Student A’s breasts and made hand gestures mimicking that action.”
A third student (Student C) returned with Student A after class.
The Commissioner explains that Enns allegedly said he saw Student A cupping and moving their breasts in a sexual manner that was not appropriate in the classroom.
Another incident involved Enns questioning why two female students were going to the bathroom so much during class time. When one of the students told him they were on their period, Enns responded by saying: “You must always be on your period,” says the report.
He was originally suspended for 10 days without pay as a consequence, says the report. He served this suspension from May 9 until May 20, 2022, inclusive.
According to the Commissioner, officials with School District 23 also warned Enns in the fall of 2021 for sharing a tweet related to a documentary “acknowledging the role of peer influence & social media in encouraging trans identification in teens.”
The second tweet related to a drag queen who led “Drag Queen Story Hour” for children and who was arrested for possession of child pornography. The original post included this sentence: “if only there would have been some warning signs, we could’ve stopped this earlier.”
School District 23 reminded Enns that he should consider that parents and students may be viewing Twitter posts and drawing conclusions as to his own beliefs, however, he was not disciplined for the social media content.
Ultimately, the report says Enns voluntarily agreed that his conduct constituted professional misconduct and agreed to another suspension from June 5, 2023 to June 9, 2023 for the classroom incidents.
The Commissioner ordered him to complete a course about Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries.
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