A “spontaneous exercise” to teach a Grade 2 gym class about segregation has resulted in a one-day suspension for a Campbell River teacher.
The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said Diana Marie Lontayao “failed to treat student[s] with dignity and respect and did not show sufficient care for their mental and emotional well-being” when she separated her class according to skin colour.
The disciplinary action resulted from a gym class on Feb. 15.
To mark Black History Month, an announcement on the school’s public address system told students the story of Rosemary Brown, the first Black woman elected to a Canadian legislature.
Lontayao asked her students if they understood what segregation meant and when they didn’t seem to understand, the teacher decided to engage in a spontaneous exercise, according to a consent resolution agreement, which Lontayao does not dispute.
A small area was cordoned off in the gym with cones. She then told her class “all the brown kids, you go into that corner.”
Three children who were visible minorities went to the corner and were given one foam noodle to play tag with. The rest were given three of the foam noodles.
Lontayao told the students that the two groups could neither play nor talk with one another.
The consent resolution agreement said that after playing for a while, the group of children in the larger group were entitled to a water break first and those in the smaller group had to wait.
At one point, a student in the smaller group began to cry and briefly left the gym with a teacher’s assistant.
Lontayao explained to the students how unfair it was in the past that they would not be allowed to play together because of their race, and it was because of people like Rosemary Brown that today they can play and learn together.
When the student returned to the gym, Lontayao apologized and ended the exercise.
“Some students reported not understanding why Lontayao conducted this activity and more than one student reported being upset by it,” said the consent agreement.
A month after the exercise, Lontayao was suspended for 20 days without pay by the Campbell River School District, which she served from March 28 to April 22. She was also required to complete a race relations course and was given a letter of discipline. The district also reassigned her to another school.
Lontayao, a teacher since 1990, served her one-day suspension on Monday.
The consent agreement said Lontayao acknowledged the gym exercise constituted professional misconduct under the Professional Standards for B.C. Educators.
