Suspended teacher who tagged ‘I’m gay’ on student, teaches once more

A British Columbia teacher, Daniel Mark Ogloff, who was suspended in 2013 for putting a sign on a student that said ‘I’m gay’ is teaching again in the nearby province of Alberta.

The superintendent of the Grasslands School Division, David Steele, confirmed to CBC News that Ogloff was hired not knowing about the tagging incident and ‘can’t really deal with something that he did and he was disciplined for somewhere else . . .’

‘We expect our employees to respect everybody,’ said Steele.  ‘We expect Mr. Ogloff to treat everybody here with respect.’

Alberta Education issued a statement: ‘Jurisdictions across Canada share disciplinary issues only upon completion of the process . . . We are committed to providing every student with a safe and respectful place to learn.’

The school district in which the incident happened suspended Ogloff without pay for 10 weeks and required him to apologize, make amends with the student, receive mentorship from another teacher, and to complete a few courses. CBC News’ report says that Ogloff disputed the ‘appropriateness’ of the discipline.

Alberta’s Liberal education critic, Kent Hehr, says that local school boards are doing their best. ‘My hope is that the individual teacher that was involved in this incident has learned, [and] has matured.’

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