On Monday, the principal of a Calgary elementary school faced a provincial disciplinary hearing in Edmonton following allegations of unprofessional conduct.
Gerald Pedron, principal of Sundance Elementary, was found guilty of locking students in a nurses station by installing brackets on the doorframe outside of the room and using a rope to tie the door shut.
Pedron said his actions were for the benefit of the students but a disciplinary board disagreed. The principal was found guilty and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
The Sundance principal also faced allegations in connections to two separate incidents involving the restraining of students. Pedron was accused of throwing a student from a counter to a bed in a nurse’s room and pushing a female student to the ground.
The Alberta Teachers’ Association found Pedron’s actions were justified in the incident involving the nurse’s room bed and agreed with Pedron’s defense that the girl’s fall was an accident.
Pedron’s lawyer says teachers are trained to restrain using proper measures.
“Anytime there’s a physical interaction between a teacher and a student that’s of a potentially violent nature, that has an emotional element to it,“ said Sean Fitzgerald. “The point that I was making before the panel, and they in essence agreed with me, is that physical interaction is going to happen under crisis situations and it’s a matter of how far the teacher goes.”
For Megan Mann, a parent of a child who attends Sundance Elementary, the news of the allegations was unsettling.
“I would hope it’s not true,” said Mann. “I’d hate to comment because you don’t know circumstances, but, by the same token, I’m not sure of any circumstance where children should be locked in classrooms.”
“But , I guess until you know the full story,….I’m kinda caught off guard.”
With files from CTV's Chris Epp
