A registered teacher has been censured for serious misconduct after shoplifting wine and later consuming alcohol while supervising students.
According to a report by Stuff, the New Zealand Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found the teacher’s actions, stealing four bottles of wine in 2020 and consuming wine on school grounds during lunch duty in 2022, brought the profession into disrepute. However, it stopped short of cancelling her registration, instead imposing censure and conditions.
The teacher, who has been registered since 2011, admitted stealing the wine from a Liquorland store over three separate visits across five days in September 2020 while employed at a primary and intermediate school. The total value of the stolen bottles was $103.96.
She was charged by police with three counts of theft under $500. After admitting the offence, she completed diversion, including paying reparation, writing an apology letter and undertaking alcohol counselling. The charges were dismissed in February 2021, Stuff has reported.
In 2022, while working at a different primary school, the teacher retrieved a bottle of wine from her car during a lunch break while on duty. She poured the wine into a drink bottle and drank several sips while supervising students on school grounds.
Another teacher detected the smell of alcohol and informed the principal. The teacher admitted she had consumed five to six sips of wine and later resigned before the school board concluded its disciplinary process. Mandatory reports relating to both incidents were made to the Teaching Council, and the matter was referred to the tribunal by a Complaints Assessment Committee.
In submissions, the teacher accepted that her conduct met the threshold for serious misconduct. She said at the time of the shoplifting, she was experiencing a breakdown linked to a relationship separation, Covid-19 pressures and declining mental health. She later told investigators she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and alcohol dependence, and had since undertaken rehabilitation and was sober, according to Stuff.
The tribunal said the combined conduct reflected adversely on her fitness to teach and risked lowering public confidence in the profession. It emphasised that protecting learners is the paramount consideration.
Although the Complaints Assessment Committee sought cancellation or censure with conditions, the tribunal determined cancellation was not necessary in the circumstances. It formally censured the teacher and imposed conditions on her practising certificate to monitor and support her rehabilitation should she return to teaching, Stuff has reported.