Teacher disciplined in BC for anti-gay act now in Alberta

A former Aldergrove metalwork teacher disciplined for taping the words “I’m gay” to a Grade 11 student’s back and encouraging his classmates to mock him is now teaching in Alberta.

Daniel Mark Ogloff worked at Aldergrove Community Secondary School when he put the tape on the student’s back on Sept 24, 2013, gestured to other students to keep quiet and then pointed to another student, mouthing the words, “It was him.” He then allowed the student to leave class with the tape still on his back.

The student reported Ogloff to the principal.

“Some students in the class witnessed this and were laughing and taking photos,” says a Sept 10 resolution agreement from the office of Bruce Preston, BC’s commissioner for teacher regulation. “Ogloff acted unprofessionally, disrespectfully, and without regard for students’ physical and emotional safety.”

Ogloff was initially suspended for 10 weeks without pay by the Langley School District and ordered to participate in a restorative action program with the student and to accept mentorship from another teacher.

Ogloff claimed the incident was just “horseplay” and disputed the appropriateness of the discipline.

The commissioner for teacher regulation agreed with Ogloff’s school district on Sept 10, saying his actions constituted “professional misconduct” and suspending his teaching licence for two more weeks this fall.

In reaching an agreement with the commissioner’s office, Ogloff admitted the facts of the case, agreed he had committed professional misconduct and accepted the further suspension. He also agreed not to make any public statement disputing the resolution.

Ogloff had previously been warned about embarrassing students after a female student in December 2012 asked to discuss her mark. According to the resolution agreement with the commissioner’s office, Ogloff responded loudly in class with words to the effect of “She wants to know why you’re passing and she’s not,” followed by “You are never here and you don’t do anything in this class.”

The student was embarrassed and left class, the commissioner’s report found.

In 2011, Ogloff was given a verbal warning for inappropriate comments to Grade 7 students, the report also notes.

A Daniel Mark Ogloff is listed in Alberta’s 2014/2015 school handbook as a teacher in the small town of Bassano, 140 kilometres east of Calgary. According to a CBC news report, the superintendent of the Alberta Grasslands School Division confirms that Ogloff has been working in the district without incident but says staff were unaware of the situation in BC when they hired him.