Rototuna Junior High School teacher Shannan McPeak has been censured by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal. Screenshot / YouTube
When a student cried out in pain during one of his classes, teacher Shannan McPeak told her “you only scream like that when you are getting raped”.
The student felt so uncomfortable after hearing the comment that she avoided attending his classes at Hamilton’s Rototuna Junior High School.
And despite a recent Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal decision stating it was disturbed that when a young girl cried out McPeak’s mind went to the topic of rape, he is still able to teach at the school after undergoing a mentoring programme.
The tribunal ordered that McPeak be censured, have his teacher registration annotated for 12 months, and that he practise under the guidance of a mentor for a year.
McPeak is a teacher in the product design department at Rototuna Junior High School, where he had two inappropriate interactions with Year 9 students, who were 13 years old at the time.
The first incident occurred in March 2022. A student was using a hammer in McPeak’s class when another student came up behind her and said “boo” in her ear.
The student got a fright and hit her finger with the hammer, causing her to scream out loudly in the class.
McPeak heard her scream and told her off. When she tried to explain what had happened, McPeak did not listen and said “you only scream like that when you are getting raped”.
The comment caused her to cry and want to leave the class, the decision said.
The student told her mother what McPeak had said to her and the mother emailed the principal raising concerns about the rape comment.
The principal phoned the mother and spoke to her and the principal also emailed McPeak and suggested that they meet to talk.
McPeak had apologised to the entire class for reprimanding the student inappropriately almost immediately afterwards, and he also spoke with the student and the group that she was with.
As of October 2023 the student continued to not go to classes if she knew that McPeak would be there, the tribunal decision said.
A second incident happened in June 2022 when a student hit another on the bum in a joking way.
McPeak saw the interaction and said “I wish I could do that, but I’m not allowed”.
One of the students was upset by the comment and said it was “creepy”, the decision said.
The upset student reported the incident to the deputy principal, after which the principal sent McPeak a letter inviting him to a meeting about the incident.
McPeak agreed to participate in an informal support programme and agreed to attend a restorative meeting with the students involved, but this did not go ahead because of other issues that arose, the decision said.
In March 2023, the principal submitted a mandatory report to the Teaching Council in relation to McPeak’s conduct with respect to the first incident.
The council’s Triage Committee referred the matter to the Complaints Assessment Committee for investigation, which was then put to the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal.
“We find that it is clearly established that the misconduct negatively impacted on the wellbeing of the students,” tribunal deputy chairman Ian Murray said in the decision.
“It was not just the inappropriate sexual undertones of the comments but the belittling nature of the comment about rape.
“While we fully understand that flippant and thoughtless comments can be made on the spur of the moment, we were disturbed that Mr McPeak’s mind went to the topic of rape when he heard a young girl cry out.
“We were also concerned that he expressed a desire to hit a student in what was clearly construed by her as creepy. The fact that the behaviour was repeated and there was a sexual element to both comments showed it was not simply a one-off mistake.”
But the tribunal was impressed with McPeak’s reflective statement and the insight he showed.
The principal told the tribunal McPeak had successfully completed a “robust mentoring programme” that required weekly and fortnightly meetings with his curriculum and pastoral leaders and the previous principal in 2023.
McPeak was issued with a final warning by the school.
“We were provided with a reference from his current school. He clearly has the support of this school and the principal, and we were impressed with the assistance being provided to him,” Murray said.
“We are confident that a repeat of this behaviour is highly unlikely.”
In an email to parents from the school’s board on Friday, it reiterated this message.
“The Teaching Council’s Disciplinary Tribunal decision aligns with the school’s actions around the outcome of the disciplinary process and the benefits of support and guidance in this situation.
“The Disciplinary Tribunal noted that they were confident a repeat of this behaviour is highly unlikely. We acknowledge and accept the findings of the Disciplinary Tribunal.
“We also ask for your support to ensure that this matter does not distract students from their learning and to ensure that the privacy of the young people referenced in the Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision is maintained.”
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.