BC teacher suspended for inappropriate comment and personal texts with student

A BC teacher has been suspended for making a comment with sexual innuendo in the classroom and failing to maintain boundaries with a student.

A consent resolution agreement was signed between the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation and Eric Joseph Bernard Enreight Blouin on July 21.

According to the agreement, the inappropriate comments happened when Blouin was teaching a Grade 8 French class in June 2022.

The Commissioner said Blouin had the class practice counting to 100 aloud in French.

After each set of 10 numbers, he asked the students “what’s next?” When the class reached 69, Blouin asked the class the same question and then said “mouthwash,” the Commissioner wrote.

“Blouin says that this comment was directed to the Education Assistant, but the comment was heard by students,” the agreement said.

Blouin was verbally reprimanded by the School District on June 30 2022.

In August 2022, the Commissioner received two reports from another teacher and the School District about Blouin’s conduct toward a student he had taught.

The Commissioner said he exchanged personal text messages with the student before the end of the school year and over the summer. He also reportedly invited this student to his home, served them food and hugged them.

“On one of the visits, Blouin sat very close to the student,” the agreement said.

By the end of the summer the student asked Blouin to stop contacting them. A few more messages were sent during the fall but after that there was no further communication.

Blouin was suspended without pay for one week at the end of October and ordered to complete a course on maintaining respectful boundaries. Both matters were then sent to the Commissioner for consideration.

The Commissioner proposed a three-week suspension and Blouin accepted.

According to the agreement, the suspension was determined to be appropriate because the teacher failed to maintain boundaries and entered into a personal relationship with a recent graduate. He also failed to role model appropriate behaviour for students.

The School District and students are not named in order to protect the identity of a student who was “harmed, abused or exploited,” the Commissioner explained.