A Langley elementary school teacher has twice been suspended from his job after a series of incidents in which he screamed at, insulted, or shoved students in his classes.
Daniel Lee has agreed to a four-month suspension this year for professional misconduct, according to a consent agreement posted by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.
According to the agreement, Lee has been reported for his behaviour twice since 2013, and the district has been raising concerns with him as far back as 2010.
The most recent incident took place on November 2, 2015, when Lee yelled at a Grade 4 student for writing with her elbow on her desk. Lee threatened to remove her chair and desk, and then ordered her to stand at the back of the class, and told her words to the effect of “you have a backbone/spine, use it!”
He went on medical leave a week later.
That incident was the last in a series that went back to 2011, according to the report
Lee has:
• Shoved a stack of books into a child’s chest, causing him to cry
• Grabbed a student’s hand while she was typing because she didn’t comply with his instructions
• Raised his voice and was visibly angry several times, reducing some students to tears
• Threw erasers, balls of masking tape, and tennis balls at students either as a form of punishment or to gain their attention
• Tackled a Grade 5 student during a no-contact game of handball
• Sometimes grabbed students’ wrists to get their attention
• Grabbed a student’s head during a cycling safety demonstration
• Told one student “either you are the stupidest kid I ever met or you’re an idiot,” “get your ass back in here,” and “you’re a walking disaster.”
Following a number of incidents in the 2012/13 school year, the Langley School District suspended Lee for four months without pay and ordered him to take a number of courses, including one on classroom management and one on anger management.
The new penalty is separate from that suspension. Lee’s new suspension will run through this fall, from September to December.
