A Burnaby educator who “used his position as a teacher to create the opportunity to engage in inappropriate physical contact with female students” has agreed not to re-apply for his teaching licence for nine months.
The Burnaby school district reported Alvin Yik-Bun Lau, a teacher at a local high school, to the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch last January, according to a summary of the case posted by the teacher watchdog today (Monday).
The district said that, between September 2017 and June 2018, Lau had asked female students at his school to volunteer, outside of class time, for a research project about athleticism.
“During that time he engaged in inappropriate physical contact with them,” states the summary.
Lau took a leave of absence from the district in September 2019 to pursue other employment and then resigned on Jan. 4, 2021.
He signed a consent resolution last year, admitting his actions constituted professional misconduct, according to the TRB.
He agreed not to re-apply for his teaching licence – which had already been cancelled in November for non-payment of annual fees – for nine months.
TRB commissioner Howard Kushner concluded the punishment was appropriate given that “Lau used his position as a teacher to create the opportunity to engage in inappropriate physical contact with female students” and “Lau’s conduct made the students feel very uncomfortable and detrimentally affected their learning environment.”
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
