Penticton

A Penticton teacher, accused of uttering inflammatory remarks to students in the classroom, will learn his fate early next month.

Miko McGrady was a French Immersion teacher at Penticton Secondary between December, 2009 and June, 2010 when the alleged incidents took place.

Complaints were made and forwarded to the Teacher Regulatory Branch which will ultimately decide if any disciplinary action is warranted.

In all, nine allegations were made against McGrady, including: 

• Told a female student, in class, that the reason he smelled was that he had slept with her mother the night before and had not yet taken a shower.
• Exposed a student to embarrassment and emotional distress by projecting a picture of a film star in class and commenting that the student had a “crush” on the film star, and leaving the image on screen for several minutes despite the fact that it caused visible upset to the student.
• In response to a comment by an openly gay male student, McGrady uttered a phrase in French which translates into English as “I hate fags”.
• Singled out an openly gay male student by referring to him as “flamboyant”.
• Remarked, in class, that a female student absent from class due to illness might have “morning sickness”.
• Made inappropriate jokes and comments to students, in class, about sexual activity by students, drinking/drug use.
• Allowed students to leave class during instructional time to purchase food and drink, and asked students to bring food and/or drink back for him.
• Made inappropriate remarks, in class, about other teachers at Penticton Secondary School.
• On or about June 16, 2010, Miko McGrady discussed, in class, a notice of investigation that had been provided to him the previous day by his employer.

According to officials with the TRB, say a two week hearing on the matter was scheduled to start this past Monday, however, it was cancelled in light of discussions of a proposed 'consent resolution' with respect to the facts and circumstances of the case.

Any proposed consent resolution agreement would be presented to the Commissioner at the next meeting Oct. 30 and 31.

An agreement would be signed by the Commissioner, likely in early November.

If a breach of professional standards is deemed to have occurred McGrady could be reprimanded, have his teaching certificate suspended or cancelled.

McGrady is currently listed as a teacher at KVR Middle School.

Calls to School District Superintendent, Wendy Hyer, have not been returned.