A former New Zealand high school teacher has been found guilty of serious misconduct after he touched a teenage female homestay student without her consent at his home.
According to a report by Stuff, the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found the charge proven over an incident on February 10, 2024, when the teacher stroked the student's leg and calf, touched her face and hair, and kissed her forehead.
The student had recently arrived in New Zealand to study at a local high school and was temporarily staying at the teacher's home as a homestay student.
Although the tribunal said the physical contact was at the lower end of the scale, it found the circumstances made the conduct serious because of the student's vulnerability.
"The simple point is that an elder male teacher has acted in this way toward a vulnerable female foreign child staying at his home," the tribunal stated in its decision, as reported by Stuff.
The Complaints Assessment Committee brought the case under the Education and Training Act 2020. The teacher accepted that his actions amounted to misconduct but disputed that they reached the threshold for serious misconduct, Stuff has reported.
The tribunal disagreed, finding his behaviour met the legal criteria for serious misconduct because it adversely affected, or was likely to adversely affect, the student's wellbeing, raised concerns about his fitness to teach and brought the teaching profession into disrepute.
According to a report by Stuff, the panel said the homestay arrangement was connected to his professional responsibilities because he was hosting international school students, even though the incident did not occur in a classroom.
It also noted that it did not need to establish any sexual motivation to reach its findings.
The teacher showed remorse, accepted responsibility, underwent counselling and voluntarily left the teaching profession permanently. He also formally undertook never to host homestay students again, as reported by Stuff.
The tribunal censured him and ordered that, if he applies for a teaching practising certificate in the future, he must provide the disciplinary decision to any prospective or current teaching employer for two years.
His name has been permanently suppressed, along with identifying details about the student, her country, school, the teacher's former employer, the city where the incident occurred and his specific teaching role, Stuff has reported.
The suppression order was granted after the tribunal considered potential health and welfare risks to the teacher and his family. The panel was also satisfied that safeguards, including his undertaking, police warnings and homestay provider vetting requirements, would prevent him from hosting students again, as reported by Stuff.
The former teacher was ordered to pay $1794 in costs to the Complaints Assessment Committee and a further $600 in tribunal costs.
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