A Prince George teacher has served a one-day teaching suspension for what the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation calls ‘unprofessional behavior.’
Andrew Dennis was also directed to take a course on ‘creating a positive learning environment’ as part of a consent regulation agreement last month.
The report says he is prohibited from teaching Kindergarten through Grade 7 until he completes the course.
The disciplinary action is a result of two complaints filed in October of 2018, reported by parents concerned Dennis was showing films outside the curriculum for his Grade 6-7 class.
“In September shortly after the start of the school year, Dennis showed the students the film ‘The Hobbit’ which was not curriculum related,” reads the report.
Dennis also showed his class ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ deemed not age-appropriate as it deals with racism, rape, and has repeated racial slurs.
The B.C. curriculum lists the novel as a secondary school level resource for Grades 10 and up.
A parent also questioned the number of movies the class had watched in general, and one student said they had trouble with the general noise level in the class.
Dennis also had his class read “The Lottery,” a story about residents of a small town drawing slips of paper out of a box.
If the paper has a dot on it, then they are stoned to death, a ritual to ensure a good harvest that year.
He then showed the class the corresponding clip on YouTube and the class re-enacted the story using dodgeballs.
The movie is based on a story that is recommended for students in grades 11 and 12.
Dennis also mentioned the complaints to his class, making one student complainant feel singled out and picked on.
In response, he received a letter of discipline issued that November.
In October of 2019, the report says Dennis failed to break up an altercation between two students who were wrestling and pulling at each other’s clothes, despite the school having a ‘no touch’ policy in place.
He also failed to supervise kindergarten students, who were found alone in a hallway, in February of 2019.
Dennis served his suspension this past Tuesday (April 6).
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