One teacher asked colleagues if they wanted to do a line. Another was caught snorting white powder on a desk. Photo / 123RF
A teacher who asked colleagues if they wanted to “do a line” at an after-work Christmas party in a classroom said her actions were “stupid drunken horseplay with some sort of white powder”.
Now the NZ Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has found her conduct on school grounds amounted to serious misconduct.
The teacher was one of two to face disciplinary charges over the incident after a staff party in December 2022.
The party began with a tavern lunch then moved to a classroom. The teacher was intoxicated, as were a number of other staff members, the tribunal said.
The other teacher caught snorting “white powder” from a classroom desk later admitted it was the “most stupid thing” he had ever done.
He was found guilty of serious misconduct and censured over the incident.
It was never confirmed if the substance was an illicit drug.
The teacher who offered the substance was also found guilty on the same charge and given the same penalty, including that she had to disclose the tribunal’s finding to her current and any future employers for the next two years.
She currently works at a secondary school in a teaching and leadership position.
In 2022 she was working as a specialist teacher but had already resigned to take up a new role when the incident happened.
A drug test she had taken on December 22 - nine days after the party, came up clear for all substances tested, including cocaine.
The tribunal said because she had already given notice of her resignation the school where the incident occurred took no further steps in its investigation.
The pair was charged after an investigation by the Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) and on the basis it could not prove that the white powder was an illegal drug.
The teacher, who was granted name suppression despite opposition from the CAC, has been in her current role since 2023 and was responsible for the pastoral care of a large number of students, the tribunal said.
She has since expressed her “deepest regret and sincere apologies” for her conduct, but that she was “heavily intoxicated” at the function and that she should not have gone back to continue socialising at the school.
She was “embarrassed and distressed” by what happened and the way the allegations had been handled at the school.
She had never been through a disciplinary process before and had since experienced huge damage to her hauora and mana.
“I have spent a lot of time thinking about what happened and doing everything I can to move on in a proactive way so that I can continue to focus on the mahi that I love.
“I am really proud of all of my contributions to teaching and the wider community,” she told the CAC.
She and others were drunk when the party, which began with a tavern lunch, moved from there to a classroom at the school about 4.30pm.
Tribunal deputy chair Catherine Garvey said in the findings related to the other teacher, that while there was no suggestion students were present or adversely affected, the fact the conduct occurred on school grounds was relevant, even if it was after-hours.
The facts as outlined in the charge were that once back at the school the teacher approached another staff member and asked if she wanted to “do a line”.
The staff member responded that she didn’t do drugs, before walking away with another colleague.
Some time later the second teacher who was also charged arrived and ended up “snorting” the substance off the school desk, after other staff members and the female teacher asked him about “doing a line”.
He believed he saw the female teacher holding a card and a $5 note which he used rolled up to sniff some of the powder.
He later claimed it had no effect on him.
A few days later the school’s deputy principal met with the female teacher to discuss what had occurred at the party.
She admitted to having been drunk but denied having any drugs with her that night.
She also denied offering a line to either of the staff members who had walked away from her and stated she was “just asking them if that was what they were into”.
She later accepted that she did use the words “do a line” - a slang term which can refer to snorting an illegal powdered drug, such as cocaine.
The CAC submitted in its test for serious misconduct that even in the absence of evidence that the white powder was an illegal drug, there were several factors to support such finding.
They included the conduct occurred on school grounds, and that she had placed her colleagues in a difficult position.
Garvey said that while the background to the proceedings was unsatisfactory, regarding certain critical details of the incident, the tribunal determined the charge as presented.
She said leaving aside the “concerning absence of proof” about whether staff were involved in illicit drug use on school premises, several factors reflected on the respondent’s fitness and were likely to lower the reputation of the profession.
The teacher had ongoing support from a counsellor, had consulted a psychologist and had “as-needed input” from a general practitioner.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.