The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Association administrative guidelines provide for the attendance of observers at selected portions of Council meetings. Association members who are interested in observing selected portions of Council meetings at their own expense are advised to contact their district representative.

Highlights of the Provincial Executive Council meeting held Nov. 30–Dec. 1, 2017, at Barnett House in Edmonton

1. Approved the 2018/19 program area budget recommendations and referred them to Finance Committee for costing.
2. Eliminated the process of Finance Committee reviewing the program area budget recommendations for consistency with the strategic plan, as this has already been completed by the program area budget subcommittees.
3. Amended an administrative guideline to clearly define the difference between a building addition and a building improvement.
4. Named Melissa Purcell, a supervisor of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education with Edmonton Public Schools, to the position of executive staff officer, Professional Development, effective Jan. 1, 2018 or at a mutually agreeable time.
5. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, approved the creation and installation at Barnett House of a full-size, four-metre bronze statue entitled On Her Shoulders, costs of which are included in the project budget.
6. Submitted the names of three Council members as Alberta nominees to represent the Canadian Teachers’ Federation at the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, taking place in New York City from March 12 to 16.
7. Approved that a meeting with Catholic local presidents be convened around the Local Presidents’ Meeting, scheduled for Feb. 9 and 10.
8. Received a report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct for posting or liking images on the teacher’s Facebook page that depicted sex paraphernalia, that had a statement of what someone could do with their opinion and that depicted the teacher’s employer’s logo on the same page, thereby failing to act in a way that maintained the honour and dignity of the profession; and for, on two occasions, showing two female students an image on the teacher’s cellphone where it appeared the teacher was kissing the left breast of a woman depicted on a poster, thereby failing to treat the pupils with dignity and respect and to be considerate of their circumstances. The hearing committee imposed a penalty of a letter of severe reprimand to address all three charges and a fine of $500, payable within 90 days of the teacher’s receipt of the written decision. Failure to pay within the allotted period would declare the teacher ineligible for, or suspended from, membership
   in the Association until the fine is paid in full.
9. Received a report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct for ridiculing a student by making references to the student’s penis size, thus failing to treat the student with dignity and respect; for making inappropriate comments to students including a veiled reference to jiggling breasts, and/or questioning students about dating, and/or referring to a student’s cold sore as herpes, thus failing to treat students with dignity and respect and be considerate of their circumstances and failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession; and for criticizing the teacher’s principal by posting comments on Facebook, in which the teacher referred to the principal in a derogatory way, thus failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession. The committee imposed the penalty of letters of severe reprimand for all three charges and, for charge one, a declaration of ineligibility for membership in the Association for a period of one year and a recommendation to the minister of education that the teacher’s teaching certificate be suspended for a period of one year. The committee directed that all three severe reprimands be incorporated into one letter.
10. Received a report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of four charges of unprofessional conduct for inaccurately coding students for special needs funding, thus failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession; for inaccurately coding students for special needs funding with no assessments to document the students’ needs, thus failing to treat pupils with dignity and respect and to be considerate of their circumstances; for failing to provide due consideration to the health impacts that housing animals in the school would have on students and staff, thus failing to treat students and staff with dignity and respect; and for bringing another adult into the school for the purpose of a sexual encounter, thus failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession. The committee imposed the penalty of a letter of severe reprimand to address charges one to four inclusively, a declaration that the teacher is permanently ineligible for membership in the Association and a recommendation to the minister of education to cancel the teacher’s teaching certificate.
11. Named field members to fill vacancies on the Curriculum Committee, Substitute Teachers Committee and Edmonton Area Field Experiences Committee.
12. Amended the frames of reference of the Committee on ATA 100th Anniversary Planning and the Calgary Area Field Experiences Committee.