B.C. teacher suspended after missing track meet, selling clothes to students

A Canadian school classroom is seen in a Jan. 9, 2024 file image. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

A high school teacher from Vancouver Island has been suspended over two incidents of misconduct, which included selling vintage clothing to students from his classroom during school hours.

Both incidents happened while Phi John Le was working for the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District, according to a consent agreement he signed with B.C.’s commissioner for teacher regulation.

The vintage clothing Le sold came from a business he owns—which he spoke about “many times” with students, per the agreement—and would sometimes be displayed in his class.

The other incident of misconduct involved missing a track and field event held in Port Alberni over two weekdays in May 2024.

“Le claimed and submitted requests for two paid athletic release days in order to attend and coach students at the track meet,” the consent agreement reads.

“Le did not let the district know that he would not be attending.”

The teacher also missed a pre-meet event that was critical for registering student athletes to qualify for provincial championships. That resulted in two qualifying athletes from his school being ineligible, according to the agreement.

Le did contact another district coach to ask him to cover the meet for him—which included obtaining a race package with the team’s numbers and times then distributing bibs to participants—but students said the change wasn’t clearly communicated to them, and felt there was a lack of organization as a result of his absence.

Le also told the other coach his absence was due to a recent death in the family, which the commissioner for teacher regulation found was not true.

“Le told district investigators that he had been unable to attend the track meet as he had to be out of his apartment at the end of the month,” the agreement reads.

The district issue Le a letter of discipline and suspended him for three days without pay in 2024. The provincial commissioner then ordered an investigation into the incidents, and decided to issue the teacher a further one-day suspension.

In the consent agreement, the commissioner noted Le has since “ceased performing any business-related activities in or around the school.”