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A teacher in northern BC has been suspended for four weeks for reportedly making racist remarks towards his colleagues and “jeopardizing” the safety of students.
Brent Daniel, who worked at a school in the Peace region and later at an independent school run by a First Nation, agreed with the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation that his actions amounted to professional misconduct.
Daniel was originally suspended in May 2021 for reportedly grabbing a students hood in a PE class and causing them to fall and become injured.
He was handed a 10 day suspension and transferred to a different school in the district. He completed anger management and conflict resolution courses.
However, in about August or September of 2022, Daniel applied for employment at an independent school that taught K-12.
According to the agreement, he did not tell the school his work experience with the district over the last four years and did not disclose that he was still employed and on a leave of absence.
In October and November 2022, Daniel reportedly made racists comments towards teachers who are black, which included:
Saying “you can take the Haitian out of Haiti, but you can’t take Haiti out of the Haitian” when the other teacher was carrying items from an office
Standing in between two teachers who are Black and asked “what do you call this?” and then said “an Oreo”
Saying he’d “better put away my valuables” when seeing a black male teacher wearing a medical face mask
Holding a bottle of vitamins and gesturing towards a colleague and saying “here, you’ll need these when your HIV gets unbearable”
On Nov.16, 2022, Daniel was handed a warning and put on a three month probation.
During that same month, Daniel engaged in several incidents of “inappropriate conduct” towards students including yelling, slamming a door and swearing in front of students and kicking a pile of chairs while students hid behind them.
He was fired on Nov. 30, 2022. About two days later, the independent school filed a formal report against him and sent it to the commissioner.
As a part of the agreement, Daniel’s suspension starts Feb. 1, 2023. He must also complete a course about creating a positive learning environment.
The commissioner said Daniel “failed to model behaviour expected of an educator,” jeopardized the physical and emotional safety of students and made comments to his black colleagues that are “inconsistent” with Canadian values and beliefs.