A B.C. teacher must complete a course on respectful professional boundaries after allegedly taking sides in a custody dispute of one of their students.

The teacher, who is not named to protect the identity of the student, was a teacher on call at an elementary school in B.C. when they became involved in a custody and access dispute between the parents of a student they taught, a discipline outcome posted Tuesday (Aug. 20) says. 

The teacher had provided a written statement about the student to one of the parents to use in legal proceedings.

The decision says the teacher referred to their status as a teacher, provided information about the student that the teacher had obtained in their role and made biased and unprofessional comments about the student's parents. 

In the decision, it says the teacher has since entered into a consent resolution agreement with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation. As part of that agreement, the teacher has to complete a course, "Reinforcing Professional Boundaries" at the Justice Institute of B.C.