A female secondary schoolteacher who had sex with a former student before he received his Leaving Cert results has been removed from the register, a fitness-to-teach committee has ruled.
The teacher may apply, after a period of five years have elapsed from the date of confirmation in the High Court, to be admitted to the register, the committee also decided on Wednesday.
The committee had previously found proven that between June 14th to August 14th, 2018 the teacher communicated via the social media platform Snapchat with a Leaving Cert student, who was 18 years old and whom she taught.
It was further found proven that “during the summer of 2018” the teacher engaged in a romantic relationship with the student.
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The teacher, who did not attend Wednesday’s sanction hearing but was legally represented, denied these allegations.
She did admit to having sex with the student in a hotel in early August 2018, which she and the student, in their evidence to the inquiry, claimed was “a one-off”.
They both claimed they bumped into each other accidentally in a pub while they were socialising with two separate groups.
The committee also previously found that the proven factual allegations amounted to professional misconduct and breaches of the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers.
Chairman of the committee, Fergal McCarthy, said on Wednesday that the proven factual allegations were “serious” and that the conduct of the teacher in the summer of 2018, after the student had completed his Leaving Cert “were not in the best interests” of the student.
McCarthy noted that while the student was 18 years old at the time, he had just sat his Leaving Cert.
He also said the teacher was almost ten years older than the student – she was 26 years old at the time – and that she had taught him for the previous two years.
Wednesday’s hearing was the sixth day of the inquiry with the committee having previously convened in July, September and January.
Counsel for the Teaching Council, Eoghan O’Sullivan BL, submitted no credit could be given to the teacher for engaging in the fitness-to-teach process as this was “built on a pack a lies”.
In January the teacher admitted that she lied about her interactions and relationship with the student. She admitted they had been in communication after the August 2018 sexual encounter.
She said in late 2019, early 2020, she and her former student began a relationship and confirmed they are still in a relationship.
A colleague at the teacher’s current school informed the Teaching Council that the evidence the teacher previously gave to the committee that there was no relationship between her and her former student was not true.
McCarthy said the dishonesty of the teacher was an aggravating factor in arriving at a sanction.
He said the teacher “conspired” with her former student to procure evidence to hide their relationship.
He said the teacher unfollowed her former student on Instagram on July 1st last year, the day before the commencement of the inquiry.
He said both the teacher and her former student deliberately lied to the committee about their relationship.
McCarthy also said the lies told by the teacher, and her lack of candour was also an aggravating factor.
McCarthy said the admission by the teacher to the sexual encounter was “lost” in the “lying to, and misleading” of the committee regarding her relationship with her former student.
He said the sanction arrived at was proportionate and afforded the teacher an opportunity to teach again in the future.
In his submissions, O’Sullivan said the committee had found there was Snapchat communication between the teacher and the student on 118 consecutive days.
He also said the sexual encounter allegation occurred before the Leaving Cert results were published.
O’Sullivan said the committee referenced in their findings report the “very important role” teachers play in the lives of their students.
Teachers are trusted by parents and by society to develop a rapport and relationship with their students based on “integrity, [and] respect”, O’Sullivan said.
However, the teacher is the “more mature party”, while the student is still developing physically and emotionally, he added.
Eoin McGlinchey, solicitor for the teacher said his client was clearly “a very good and capable teacher”.
He said there was no evidence of an inappropriate relationship between his client and the student while he was in school or when he was under 18 years of age.
McGlinchey added that six years later both parties remain in “a loving and committed relationship”, which the committee also noted.
At the direction of the committee reporting of the identity of both the teacher and any witnesses and also the name of the school where she taught was prohibited.
