Auckland: Relief teacher August Leaupepe censured for throwing child out of Flat Bush Primary School classroom

A relief teacher who left a child grazed and bruised after throwing him out of a classroom has escaped the most serious consequences after the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal acknowledged that he was put in a precarious position.

August Junior Leaupepe was employed as a teacher’s aide at target="_blank">Flat Bush Primary School, but in July 2019 he was working as a relief teacher.

On the day of the incident the class were tasked with doing a word search exercise when a 10-year-old boy took another student’s work and refused to return it.

Leaupepe asked the boy to return the work, but he refused saying “you are not the boss of me.”

When Leaupepe said he was, the boy said, “No, my dad is.”

Leaupepe lifted the boy from his chair by grabbing the back of his T-shirt with both hands, causing his feet to be lifted off the ground, then forcibly walked him out of the classroom. Opening the classroom door with one hand he threw the student onto the deck outside, with force. The boy was unable to breathe properly for some time and he was grazed, bruised and sore on his right side.

In explanation, Leaupepe told police he did not drag the student, he lifted him and escorted him out of the class. He said the boy was holding his arm and he let go, so he probably fell. He couldn’t say how the boy was bruised but acknowledged his grip “got him hard.”

In March 2021 Leaupepe admitted a charge of assaulting a child, but was subsequently discharged without conviction in the Manukau District Court.

The mitigating features in the case included Leaupepe’s guilty plea, his genuine remorse, lack of previous convictions, the offer to take part in restorative justice (which the student declined) and to pay the boy $300 reparation. The boy’s caregiver said the boy was initially hurt and upset but had eventually “gotten over it”.

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal held a hearing last year. In its decision, which was published today, it found Leaupepe guilty of serious misconduct saying his use of force was both unjustified and unreasonable and there were other ways he could have dealt with the boy’s behaviour.

As a result, he was censured and ordered to undertake professional development. He was also ordered to pay $1582 in costs.

But the tribunal also found as an inexperienced teacher he hadn’t received the necessary support and was put in a precarious position.

It found Leaupepe would benefit from professional development and support in classroom management and student behaviour management.

“The tribunal does not want to see Mr Leaupepe lost to the teaching profession, particularly at a time when Pasifika teachers are in short supply.”

Despite his goal of being a primary school teacher and working as a teacher’s aide for seven years before undertaking his training, the decision noted in 2022 Leaupepe indicated he no longer wanted to return to teaching.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.