A former Victoria middle school teacher has been suspended for inappropriate conduct with female students.
Gregory Garost was a Grade 8 teacher at Gordon Head Middle School in 2016 when he made inappropriate comments to female students and engaged in inappropriate physical contact with students, according to a July 4 resolution agreement with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.
Garost was first suspended by the Greater Victoria School District on Oct. 24, 2016 under section 15.5 of the B.C. School Act, which dictates that "if the superintendent of schools is of the opinion that the welfare of the students is threatened by the presence of an employee, the superintendent may suspend the employee."
Garost did not teach again and resigned from the school district effective Feb. 1, 2018.
On July 4, Garost agreed his prior behaviour constituted professional misconduct and he accepted a one-month suspension of his teaching certificate effective Sept. 3, 2019 to Oct. 3, 2019.
The commissioner determined the suspension of Garost's certificate was appropriate given his conduct included physical contact with students and he "failed to modify his conduct towards students, despite this prior discipline."
As part of the resolution agreement, Garost has agreed not to make statements which contradict or call into question the agreement or the admissions Garost made within it.
