Ninety-two teachers in the Western Bay of Plenty have been reported for misconduct in the past 10 years and five teachers have been deregistered, new figures show.
Since 2005, 92 teachers from the Western Bay have been reported to the Education Council for misconduct, which can include criminal convictions or other concerns such as having an inappropriate relationship with a student, misuse of school resources or physical handling of a student.
Of the 92 reported, 44 were for criminal convictions. Thirty-nine convictions were for alcohol or drugs, which includes drunk driving, and the other five were for dishonesty or driving.
The other 48 concerns about conduct reported to the Education Council included five reports about sexual or porn misconduct, five for inappropriate relationships, eight for aggression or violence, and 20 for relationship or employment issues.
Western Bay of Plenty Principals' Association president Dane Robertson said he was surprised at the number of local teachers that had been reported but that teachers were people first and foremost.
"I couldn't speak on any of these cases, but maybe some are people's stupid mistakes they've done. Teachers are obviously human."
Mr Robertson said if a principal was made aware of possible misconduct and there was a case for it, it was referred to the Education Council.
Education Council interim chief executive Julian Moore said convictions and reports about teacher conduct were referred to the Complaints Assessment Committee for investigation.
From there, the committee decided whether to take no further action, reach an agreement with the teacher and initiator, to censure them or give them conditions to be followed, refer the teacher to the disciplinary tribunal or refer the teacher for a competence assessment. Of the 92 incidents, the committee took no further action on 61, reached an agreement with 13, another 13 were referred to the Disciplinary Tribunal and five are ongoing.
Of the 13 referred to the Disciplinary Tribunal, five had their practising certificates cancelled. The rest were censured with other conditions.
Mr Moore said more conduct and competence cases were being referred to the Education Council, which reflected greater awareness of the council's strengthened role in these areas.
Comment was sought from primary teacher's union NZEI and secondary teacher's union PPTA.
NZEI said in a statement: "NZEI doesn't comment on individual cases. Our only role in these matters is to ensure that individuals receive due process".
PPTA president Angela Roberts did not return calls by deadline.