Teacher cleared of mouth-taping allegations

A Whitianga teacher has been cleared of mouth-taping two seven-year-olds. Photo / Thinkstock

A Whitianga teacher has been completely exonerated of allegations she taped two 7-year-olds' mouths closed last year.

The Teachers Council has defended former Mercury Bay Area School teacher Pat Doube as being an "exceptional teacher" and said the allegations of professional misconduct were false.

In August last year, Lisa Karl, a mother of one of the children, claimed Mrs Doube taped the two children's mouths closed because they were talking too much.

But 10 months after the allegations surfaced, the New Zealand Press Council released part of the Teachers Council Complaints Assessment Committee's report, prompted by the allegations, which found Ms Karl's claims were "inaccurate". The Teachers Council said it was "satisfied that this did not take place".

In its findings, the council said there were a number of complaints surrounding the school at the time that were not upheld and they "became over-layered to create the tragedy that occurred to this teacher and her students".

"The teacher was not able to correct the inaccuracies and thus the media have only been able to report the remarks reported by one interviewee," the report said.

"As a result of media reports, the teacher's name is on Google and is forever associated with allegations of professional misconduct that are not accurate. She has lost her job, and the students have lost a teacher who achieves results in both behaviour management changes and learning outcomes that exceeds national averages. This is a significant loss to the community."

The report also said the investigation into the matter was not assisted by the complaint being raised in the media rather than directly with the school.

Mrs Doube left the school shortly after the allegations were made and the report noted that Ms Karl moved from New Zealand shortly after laying the complaint.