A teacher has been censured for asking colleagues if they wanted to “do a line” of white powder at an after-work Christmas do in a classroom.
Her conduct was described as “stupid drunken horseplay”.
The Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal found the teacher’s acts on school grounds amounted to “serious misconduct”. She was the second teacher to face disciplinary charges over the December 2022 incident.
She was working as a specialist teacher at the time of the incident and had already resigned to start a new job. Both the teacher and the school’s names were suppressed by the tribunal.
Want to ‘do a line?’
The incident occurred on the afternoon of December 13, 2022, after the teacher and her colleagues attended a Christmas function at a tavern, drinking alcohol while eating lunch.
A group of 16 staff returned to the school to continue socialising, which was where the teacher asked several of her colleagues if they wanted to “do a line” – slang for sniffing powdered drugs like cocaine.
Two declined, but a third partook after seeing his colleague with “four or five little rows of white powder” on a desk. She was holding a card and a rolled-up $5 bank note.
While he could not definitively say what the mystery powder was, he used the bank note to sniff some off the desk. He claimed the powder did not affect him.
He was also censured in a separate tribunal decision, admitting that sniffing the white powder was “the most stupid thing” he had ever done.
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The deputy principal shut the party down after another teacher told them their colleague was offering “lines”.
The deputy principal met with the teacher a few days afterwards to talk about her behaviour at the party. The teacher denied having drugs and said she was “just asking them if that was what they were into”.
She later admitted to asking colleagues if they wanted to “do a line”.
Both teachers disciplined over the incident underwent a drug test, and no substances, including cocaine, were detected in their systems. No criminal investigation was launched as both tests were negative for drugs.
‘Embarrassed and distressed’
In an affidavit, the teacher expressed her “deepest regret and sincere apologies” for her conduct, admitting she was “heavily intoxicated” and should not have gone back to school to continue socialising.
She said she was “embarrassed and distressed” by what happened and by the way the school handled the allegations.
She said she experienced “huge damage to my hauora and mana”.
“I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened and doing everything I can to move on in a proactive way so that I can continue to focus on the mahi that I love.
“I am really proud of all of my contributions to teaching and the wider community.”
‘Stupid drunken horseplay’
The Complaints Assessment Committee, which investigates allegations for the tribunal, described her conduct as “stupid drunken horseplay” rather than the supply of an illicit substance.
Chair Catherine Garvey said that while the background was “unsatisfactory for the Tribunal regarding certain critical details of the incident, we determined the charge as it was presented to us”.
Garvey said using a classroom to continue the party was “very unwise”.
“There is a clear risk that conduct by a teacher on school premises will be perceived as reflecting on their professionalism, including conduct that might be viewed differently if occurring on private premises.
“School grounds are often used for recreation, cultural and sporting activities, meaning the potential for teachers who are present out of school hours to be observed by members of the public.”
She said that even though there was no proof that real drugs were involved, “pretending to take a prohibited substance is not consistent with modelling positive behaviour”.
The tribunal found her conduct amounted to serious misconduct and was likely to “bring the teaching profession into disrepute”.
She was censured and must, for the next two years, disclose a copy of the tribunal’s decision to her current employer and any prospective employer.
She was now working in a teaching and leadership position at an Auckland secondary school.
