A check with the New Zealand Teachers' Council revealed Tepania's practising certificate is still valid and will expire on August 3. The council has not received notification of any charges against him but will follow it up with the school.
Council acting director Rob McIntosh said when there were grounds for investigating a teacher's conduct, the case was referred to the council's Complaints' Assessment Committee.
Part of its role was to assess whether a teacher should be permitted to continue to practise while any court or council investigation proceeded, he said.
"This assessment has not occurred in Mr Tepania's case because to date the council has not been aware of the situation," Mr McIntosh said.
Tepania's case follows revelations the number of Northland teachers reported for poor conduct or incompetence has risen by 40 per cent in the last year, with seven receiving criminal convictions.
Information released by the New Zealand Teachers Council under the Official Information Act showed 35 teachers in Northland were reported to the council for conduct and competence issues in 2014. Seven of these teachers were convicted for offences such as dishonesty or drugs.
This was a 40 per cent increase on 2013 when 25 teachers were reported for conduct and competence.
During 2014, seven teachers were reported for relationship and employment matters, 10 were reported for competence issues, four were reported for violence, two were reported for dishonesty/fraud, three were reported for inappropriate behaviour, while one was reported for aggressive behaviour. These reports did not result in convictions.
But a further five teachers were criminally convicted for drugs and alcohol and two were convicted for dishonesty/fraud.
In 2013, four teachers were reported for relationship and employment matters, five were reported for competence, one was reported for dishonesty/fraud and two were reported for sexual behaviour.
A further five teachers were criminally convicted for drugs and alcohol, two were convicted for violence while one teacher was convicted for driving offences, and one was convicted for dishonesty/fraud offences. Mangakahia Area School principal Phil Reynolds said the figures did not reflect his experiences in the profession.
"I have been teaching for over 10 years and haven't yet been in a school where competency proceedings have taken place," he said. "I would, however, imagine the reasons for why they have taken place around Northland have been varied.
"Because of the isolated nature of many schools in Northland, staff are required to carry a much larger burden than in urban schools and I don't know if that weighs on them in some way but I imagine that it is an extra pressure point."
Mr Reynolds said teachers were under increased pressure to get students passing NCEA.
"We have set a goal of 85 per cent of students to achieve level two NCEA.
"Back in the school UE days, 50 per cent would pass but now we need to get 85 per cent passing - so either teachers have become much better at teaching, students have become much better at passing or the standard has dropped.
"At the end of the day, if we are talking about a huge increase in the percentage passing you have to ask, where is that improvement coming from," he said.
