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By Veronica Beltran

teacher suspended

Northern B.C. teacher suspended after cramming students into car for treats

Oct 6, 2020 | 11:03 AM

FORT ST.JOHN—An elementary school teacher in Northern B.C. was faced with with a suspension after taking students off school property without permission and squeezing them into her vehicle on various occasions.

A document released by the British Columbia Commissioner Teacher Regulation (BCCTR) says that Isabella Piazza, an elementary school teacher in School District 60, Peace River North, will face a one day suspension after not modelling “appropriate behavior expected of an educator.”

Piazza is said to have, on various occasions in June of 2020, to have pulled students off of school property, crammed them into her vehicle (at times some students were not wearing seatbelts as there were more students in the car than seats), and drove them to a local restaurant to pick up treats.

Piazza told the students in her vehicle that if they saw a police officer they would have to duck in order to not be caught. On various occasions Piazza asked her students to keep the outing to themselves and not tell anybody else about it.

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The document adds that Piazza was in breach of school policy by failing to tell school administration that she was taking students off school property; failing to obtain permission from school administrators to take students off school property and to drive them in her car; and failing to inform the students’ parents and obtain their consent.

Piazza was also in breach of the Motor Vehicle Act by failing to ensure that each of her passengers was wearing a seatbelt, along with failing to abide by the Provincial Health Officer’s COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

Earlier this year the School District suspended Piazza for three days without pay. The BCCTR determined to suspend Piazza’s teaching abilities for a day on Nov.9, 2020.