A North Island teacher has been struck off for smoking meth on school grounds. Photo / NZME
A teacher who was acting erratically and appeared to other teachers to be “on something” was later found to have brought methamphetamine to school in a sunglasses case and to have smoked the drug on the school grounds.
The North Island educator was only sprung after she left her glasses case in the bathroom used by staff and special needs students.
Now Katherine Kirk, who has taught for 15 years, has been struck off by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal following a process with which she failed to properly engage.
The tribunal’s decision, released today, stated a charge against the woman of serious misconduct was heard in March this year.
While Kirk does not have name suppression, the school at which she was employed does.
The woman’s professional undoing began when various colleagues noted she was acting “erratically”.
One commented she appeared to be “on something”, while another observed her often complaining of an upset stomach and taking herself away to the bathroom.
After the first Covid-19 lockdown, the teacher returned to work and was “disorganised and forgetful”, according to the decision.
Later that year, a teacher aide claimed that she came across a glasses case in Kirk’s classroom which a student said belonged to the teacher.
When the aide opened it, zip-lock bags containing white powder and a glass pipe were discovered.
But the teacher aide never reported the finding and later told the tribunal that was due to her fear of potential repercussions.
It wasn’t the only time Kirk left her stash unattended.
Some weeks later Kirk was seen heading towards the bathroom used by staff and special needs students. Shortly after, another staff member used the bathroom and discovered a glasses case inside.
They opened the case and discovered a “glass item” which wasn’t a pair of glasses. The acting principal took possession of the case and contacted a police officer, who confirmed the items were a glass pipe used to smoke the drug and three “straws” used to scoop it.
While the principal was looking at the sunglasses case away from other staff, Kirk was seen entering the staff room three times, appearing stressed and as if she was looking for something.
The school’s principal then met with each staff member to ask about the case and its contents. Kirk told her boss it wasn’t hers.
Police later seized the case and its contents. A lighter was found in Kirk’s jacket, but staff noted she was not a cigarette smoker. The principal announced to staff an investigation had been launched.
A few minutes later, she arrived at the principal’s office uninvited.
“She came and sat down and said ‘I hope you don’t think it was me’,” the principal told the tribunal.
“I said ‘It didn’t matter what I thought’ as there was an investigation under way. I saw that her eyes were bloodshot and red around the rims.”
Staff were ordered to undergo a drug test but Kirk said she wanted to speak to a union representative before she agreed.
All staff eventually returned negative results, but Kirk refused to be tested.
Three days after the discovery of the case, the school filed a mandatory report to the Teaching Council and the Complaints Assessment Committee went on to investigate.
Kirk later wrote to the council and admitted to smoking meth and marijuana. She said she had struggled with her mental health during the Covid-19 lockdown but denied having ever smoked drugs at school.
“After months of feeling like the world’s worst person and treated like a criminal by [redacted], I have also realised that I didn’t get to that place without sinking from the struggles and constant craziness of my workplace,” she wrote.
Tribunal deputy chairman Tim Mackenzie said in his decision that it was an “inescapable conclusion” that the woman consumed meth on the school grounds.
It was “highly likely” she smoked it there on multiple occasions, and “certainly did” on the day the glasses case was found in the bathroom, he found.
The tribunal took the witnesses’ evidence as proven, due to Kirk’s unwillingness to engage in the tribunal process. She was repeatedly contacted about the investigation meeting but had ceased all communication in January this year.
“The conduct clearly adversely reflects on Ms Kirk’s fitness to be a teacher. Indeed it completely destroys it,” Mackenzie wrote.
“We consider that there is no other option but to cancel Ms Kirk’s registration due to the seriousness of her conduct. We also note the lack of engagement from Ms Kirk, leaving us no opportunity to try and explore any rehabilitative steps she may have taken or any positive assurance or confidence she could provide us.”
The tribunal cancelled her teaching registration and ordered her to pay costs of $4751.
“It is always a very sad day when a teacher’s career is ruined by their actions in falling under the influence of a drug such as methamphetamine. We do hope that Ms Kirk reads this decision and has or will take steps to distance herself from methamphetamine and redeem herself,” Mackenzie said.
Mackenzie finally acknowledged the school and staff involved, saying the incident was managed thoroughly and professionally.
Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationwide for Open Justice. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.