Island teacher suspended for touching student 'without warning' to demonstrate athletic technique

A Vancouver Island teacher has had his professional certificate suspended for one day because he used a student to "demonstrate a technique" during an athletic practice, without the student's consent.

Russel Stephen Bodnar reached a consent agreement with B.C.'s Commissioner for Teacher Regulation on Nov. 21. A summary of the agreement was published on the commissioner's website last week. 

The summary provides few details about the situation. It indicates that Bodnar works as a secondary school teacher in School District 70, which includes Port Alberni, Tofino and other communities on the Island's West Coast.

On Nov. 17, 2021 Bodnar was coaching an athletic practice at the school. The summary does not say what sport he was coaching, nor what type of "technique" he was demonstrating, saying only that he did so "without warning, and without (the student's) consent."

"The technique Bodnar was demonstrating required him to physically interact with Student A," the summary reads. "Student A felt very uncomfortable as a result."

About a month after the incident, on Dec. 14, the school district issued Bodnar a letter of discipline, suspending him for three days without pay and removing him from all coaching duties, according to the summary.

In reaching the consent resolution agreement with the commissioner, Bodnar admitted that his behaviour constituted professional misconduct, specifically by failing "to appreciate the emotional and physical impact of his contact with Student A without Student A’s consent," the summary reads.

Bodnar served the one-day suspension of his teaching certificate on Dec. 5. The summary indicates he also completed the course "Reinforcing Respectful Boundaries" through the Justice Institute of B.C. in March 2022.