A BC Teacher Who Shaved A Student's Head Has Been Disciplined Again For Endangering Students

A teacher in Burnaby, B.C. has been disciplined for endangering students and asking a colleague to lie about it — after already facing issues with the school district when he shaved a student's head without parental permission.

The teacher, Michael John Rhodes, was working as a substitute teacher when the most recent incident occurred.

According to a consent resolution agreement from the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, Rhodes was the teacher on call for a grade five and six class on May 7, 2021.

While teaching, Rhodes walked the students to a park that was close to the school, along with two education assistants. The agreement said that to get to the park, they had to walk across "two roads, one of which involved a busy intersection."

Without any safety instructions given to the students, Rhodes simply yelled at them to cross. According to the agreement, he said: "Are you ready, let's go!"

After he yelled, some students ran to the park, in turn crossing the roads. The agreement specified that some students crossed the roads "without adult supervision and out of Rhodes' eyesight."

Then, while at the park, Rhodes allowed students to have a play "sword fight with 18-inch sticks."

It added that he said to "let kids be kids, let boys be boys," while they played.

When the school district started to investigate the incidents of May 7, Rhodes asked one of the education assistants to lie for him.

He asked her to tell the principal of the school that he did yell at the students to "slow down and wait" as they crossed the roads to the park.

After the investigation, the district suspended Rhodes without pay for one week and limited his ability to be an on-call teacher to secondary schools only.

Rhodes previously had two issues with the school district.

He received a letter of discipline after he "shaved a student's head, at the student's request, but without the permission of the student's parents or school administrators," the agreement said.

Now, Rhodes is only able to teach above Grade 7 students, until June 30, 2024. He also will have his teaching certificate suspended for one day, on March 28.