The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Highlights of the Provincial Executive Council meeting held Feb. 24–25, 2020, at Barnett House in Edmonton

1. Approved 29 Council resolutions and 45 local resolutions for presentation to the 2020 Annual Representative Assembly (ARA). The package of resolutions will be sent to locals, which will be asked to vote on whether they agree with Council’s position on each resolution. Following the pre-vote, Council will assign speakers to each resolution. 
2. Approved, for presentation to the 2020 ARA, a resolution that the ATA and its subgroups allow only the administrator of the ATA Group RRSP to be a financial presenter or financial vendor at ATA events.
3. Authorized Association staff to develop a plan to gather class size data for this school year and report back on that plan at the next meeting of Provincial Executive Council.
4. Approved the creation of an orientation program for members of Provincial Executive Council.
5. Received the report of a hearing committee, which found a teacher guilty of one charge of unprofessional conduct for making inappropriate comments about their principal in the presence of a student, thereby failing to act in a manner that maintains the honour and dignity of the profession. The hearing committee imposed a penalty of a letter of reprimand and a fine of $200.
   A second charge was filed against the teacher claiming that the teacher had made inappropriate comments about their principal in a meeting with district officials who were not proper authorities, thereby failing to act in a manner that maintains the honour and dignity of the profession. The hearing committee found insufficient evidence to support this accusation against the teacher and the teacher was found not guilty of this second charge.
6. Appealed a case in which a teacher had been found guilty of six charges of unprofessional conduct for working as a substitute teacher in Ontario while receiving sick leave pay from an Alberta school authority and for extending a vacation beyond the period approved by the teacher’s school authority and misrepresenting the time the teacher was on vacation, thus failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession and failing to meet the teachers’ obligations to the school authority.
   The hearing committee had imposed a penalty of a severe reprimand to encompass all six charges, a declaration that the teacher is permanently ineligible for membership in the Association and a recommendation to the minister of education to permanently cancel the teacher’s teaching certificate. A hearing will be scheduled before the Professional Conduct Appeal Committee.
7. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of one charge of unprofessional conduct for failing to attend sessions at a conference the teacher was paid to attend, thereby failing to maintain the honour and dignity of the profession.
   The hearing committee imposed a penalty of a letter of reprimand; a fine of $300 and an order that the teacher reimburse the local in the amount claimed to attend the conference.
8. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of two charges of unprofessional conduct for failing to act in a manner that maintains the honour and dignity of the profession and for failing to treat a student with dignity and respect and/or be considerate of the student’s circumstances.
   The committee had heard that the teacher had humiliated a student in front of the student’s peers and made inappropriate statements to the student in front of an educational assistant during a subsequent meeting.
   To address both charges, the committee imposed a penalty of a letter of reprimand and a fine of $500.
9. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of two charges of unprofessional conduct for being critical of a colleague to individuals who were not proper officials without first informing the colleague and for reporting on the professional performance of a colleague to the teacher’s principal prior to providing a copy of the report to the colleague. The committee imposed a penalty of a letter of reprimand for charge one and a letter of reprimand and a fine of $300 for charge two. 
10. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct for failing to treat students with dignity and respect and/or to be considerate of students’ circumstances by making an inappropriate comment to a female student about a male student, by sending a text message requesting that a female student keep an inappropriate comment between them a secret and by hugging students and/or massaging their shoulders in the teacher’s role as a coach.
    The committee imposed a penalty of a single letter of severe reprimand to address all three charges and three fines totalling $2,500.
11. Received the report of a hearing committee that found a teacher guilty of three charges of unprofessional conduct for engaging in behaviour for which the teacher was convicted of indictable offenses related to child pornography and for knowingly publishing, distributing, transmitting, selling or making available an intimate image knowing that the person depicted in the image did not give their consent to that conduct, or being reckless as to whether or not that person gave their consent to that conduct, contrary to sections 163.1(3), 163.1(2) and 162.1.(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada.
    The hearing committee imposed on all three charges a declaration of permanent ineligibility for membership in the Association and a recommendation to the minister of education for permanent ineligibility for a teaching certificate.
12. Approved that the Association, in collaboration with the College of Alberta School Superintendents, undertake an inquiry into setting boundaries around electronic communications for teachers and school leaders.
13. Appointed three members of Council to serve on the Subcommittee on Executive Staff Salaries and authorized the hiring of a consultant to assist the subcommittee during negotiations with the Executive Staff Association.
14. Approved the names of four teachers for addition to the Professional Development Facilitator name bank.
15. Authorized one field member to represent the Association on the Alberta Advisory Committee for Educational Studies.
16. Rescheduled the 2020 Student Local Conference from Sept. 25–26, 2020 to the weekend of Oct. 16–17, 2020.
17. Rescheduled the Fall Planning Meeting to Nov. 5–7, 2020, commensurate with cost savings of approximately 20 per cent.
18. Amended the frame of reference for the Substitute Teachers Committee by adding that the committee promote the recognition of Substitute Teachers’ Appreciation Week and encourage locals to have substitute teachers’ groups and/or representation on local committees.
19. Authorized a discussion at the next meeting of Provincial Executive Council regarding Summer Conference awards to locals. ❚