A British Columbia high school teacher has been suspended after admitting to professional misconduct for making inappropriate comments about students, including calling one student a “gangster wannabe” in an email to the student’s parent.
A consent resolution agreement from the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation says Kylejeet Singh Grewal was employed by School District No. 43 as a high school teacher during the 2022-23 school year.
Grewal holds a professional certificate of qualification issued under the Teachers Act on June 17, 2022.
The Coquitlam school district reported Grewal to the commissioner on May 8, 2023.
The agreement says the incidents took place during the 2022-23 school year and involved several students.
On Nov. 27, 2022, Grewal sent what the agreement describes as an inappropriate and unprofessional email about a student, identified as Student A, to the student’s parent.
In the email, Grewal voiced frustration with the student and said he believed Student A was a “gangster wannabe.”
The agreement says Grewal also wrote that he did not have the professional expertise to help the student and “can only recommend a board-certified psychiatrist for evaluation.”
He also wrote that “he can no longer help someone who does not want to be helped.”
The agreement says Grewal did not communicate his concerns about Student A to school administrators before sending the email to the parent.
On Jan. 17, 2023, Grewal sent another inappropriate and unprofessional email about Student A to school administrators, speculating, among other things, that Student A and the student’s parent were involved in a gang.
The agreement also says Grewal made inappropriate comments to Student A in front of the class, asking what the student did in the bathroom and what took so long.
Grewal also made inappropriate comments about Student A to another student, telling that student not to date Student A because Student A was not a good kid, would not treat them well, had sold drugs and that they should not be friends with Student A.
On Jan. 19, 2023, Grewal acted inappropriately and unprofessionally during a hallway interaction with two Grade 11 students.
The agreement says the interaction was confrontational and that when the students refused to accompany Grewal to the office, he said: “Are you too much of a pussy to go to the office?”
After a vice-principal advised Grewal that the hallway interaction was under investigation, Grewal failed to maintain confidentiality and treated one of the students involved, identified as Student B, adversely.
In early February 2023, Grewal told Student B in front of the class that he had no problem giving him a zero on an assignment and then asked: “are you going to report me again.”
When Student B left the classroom, Grewal asked the class: “What am I going to do with this kid?”
In mid-February 2023, Grewal asked a resource teacher to work with Student B because Grewal was “done with” the student and because Student B was “just toxic to me.”
The agreement says Grewal also disclosed to the resource teacher that Student B had made a “false complaint” against him.
The agreement outlines another inappropriate interaction with a student in a hallway.
It says Grewal told the student to get to class and added that he bet the student felt “pretty good” about selling drugs to underage kids.
When the student said they worked for their parent, Grewal responded: “I bet you do.”
The agreement says that during the district investigation, Grewal was repeatedly not forthcoming or honest about the incidents or his conduct.
The district disciplined Grewal on May 6, 2023, issuing a seven-day unpaid suspension and providing direction on expectations for his conduct going forward.
The district also warned him that further misconduct or failure to meet expectations would result in termination.
Grewal served the district suspension from May 8 to May 16, 2023.
The commissioner ordered an investigation on June 26, 2023, and later proposed a consent resolution agreement.
Under the agreement, signed by Grewal on May 12, 2026 and by the commissioner on May 13, 2026, Grewal admitted the facts were true.
He admitted the conduct amounted to professional misconduct and was contrary to Standards 1 and 2 of the Professional Standards for B.C. Educators.
Grewal agreed to a one-day suspension of his teaching certificate, to be served May 25, 2026.
He must also complete the Justice Institute of British Columbia course Creating a Positive Learning Environment by April 5, 2027.
If he does not complete the course by that deadline, or by an extended deadline, the commissioner may require the director of certification to suspend his certificate until he completes it.
In determining that a suspension and coursework were appropriate, the commissioner said Grewal failed to create a positive, safe and inclusive learning environment for students in his class.
The commissioner also said Grewal’s conduct showed a lack of understanding of appropriate professional boundaries, that he was not forthright and honest when his behaviour was investigated by the district, and that he failed to model appropriate behaviour.
The agreement also says Grewal was an inexperienced teacher and had already served a significant suspension.
