A principal from a Southeast Kootenay School District (SD5) elementary school in Sparwood has been suspended for five days after duct-taping a student to their chair.
According to a document from the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, Principal Renee Dawn MacCormack gave an employee permission to tape the student to a chair, allegedly to help them focus on school work.
The document alleges that MacCormack was also involved in putting duct tape on the student to attach them to their seat during the 2023/24 school year.
“MacCormack came by some time later and took a picture of the Student’s work, helped to remove the duct tape, and gave the Student a prize for completing the assigned work,” said the Commissioner’s report.
The Commissioner’s report says MacCormack did not initially admit to any wrongdoing.
“After this incident, when the District started an investigation, MacCormack did not say that she was involved, that she told the employee that it was okay to duct-tape the Student to the chair, or that she also participated in duct-taping the Student,” said the report.
Initially, MacCormack was to be suspended for 20 days without pay and re-assigned to a different school, however, she later signed a consent resolution agreement to admit they her actions constituted professional misconduct.
“In the consent resolution agreement, MacCormack agreed to a five-day suspension of her certificate of qualification and to successfully complete the course Creating a Positive Learning Environment through the Justice Institute of British Columbia by March 31, 2025,” said the Commissioner’s report.
The Commissioner considered several factors when determining disciplinary actions against MacCormack.
“MacCormack did not act in the student’s best interests nor treat the student with dignity and respect. MacCormack had a leadership role as a principal and she ought to have known that duct-taping a student to a chair was inappropriate; other staff at the school were aware that it was inappropriate,” said the report.
“MacCormack did not act with integrity when she did not disclose to the District in a timely manner her participation in the duct taping of the Student. This conduct undermines the perception of the profession as a whole.”
Ben Postmus, Diverse Family Roots Society Executive Director, says he was shocked and bewildered to learn of this incident.
“It’s 2025, this should not be happening to our children. We’re talking about the most vulnerable people, and we hand them off to people we’re supposed to trust to look after their needs throughout the day,” said Postmus.
“In this case, they failed miserably.”
Postmus says incidents of abuse undermine trust in schools.
“As a parent and as an organization that supports families that have kids with disabilities, it makes you think: who else is doing this? How many more instances or cases are going on that we’re not hearing about,” said Postmus.
“That points families in the direction of not sending their kids to that environment. This is just another horror story.”
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