A former teacher at Midale Central School was the subject of a disciplinary hearing conducted by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation in mid-December.
Justine Kwochka, who didn't appear at the hearing, has been accused of having sex with a Grade 12 student at the school.
The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation committee will decide if she is guilty of professional misconduct. A number of former colleagues and a student testified that she had inappropriate relations with the male student from 2011 to 2012.
The committee will decide whether to discipline Kwochka who taught Grades 1 and 2 at the time.
School principal Lloyd Morrison said he never suspected Kwochka of having inappropriate relations with a student, but he was warned about a developing relationship.
"I don't know how I would miss this I was oblivious to it," he said to the committee of teachers and one public representative on the panel.
Morrison said that several teachers warned him that a high school student was spending an inordinate amount of time in Kwochka's classroom.
He said their stories were affirmed one evening when he noticed a light on in the school from his home across the street, well after hours. When he entered the school to investigate, he found Kwochka alone in the classroom with the student, sitting in her chair with her legs up on the desk.
He said he called her to his office and warned her that it was not appropriate for the two to be together alone in the school so late after closing. He was later told the two took a weekend trip to Regina together, accompanied by an educational assistant heading home for the weekend. The educational assistant told the committee she accepted a ride to Regina with Kwochka, but she was surprised when Kwochka picked up the student on the way. She said they dropped her off in the city, and she found her own way back later.
Principal Morrison told the committee that Kwochka denied the trip occurred when he questioned her, only admitting to it after he told her the educational assistant had informed him about it.
At that point, Morrison contacted the human resources superintendent, and Kwochka was given a three-day suspension from work and told to cease all contact with the student.
The tension was further exacerbated in January of 2012, when Kwochka was found texting the male student after his phone was confiscated for going off at the beginning of an exam.
Kwochka was not allowed to return to teach at the school following this event. This was followed by what Southeast Cornerstone School Division human resources superintendent Gord Husband described as a mutual termination with Kwochka.
Rumours of the relationship soon spread. A female friend of the student testified that he told her over text message that he had sex with Kwochka at his father's house while his parent was away. Eventually her mother discovered the exchange and forwarded these text messages to the principal.
When Morrison confronted the student, he said he admitted to having a relationship with the teacher.
"I asked him, 'did you?' and he said yes, he did. He did have sex with her."
The committee will decide whether Kwochka is guilty of misconduct or not, and recommend possible disciplinary action to the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation.
Shelly Tootoosis, associate executive director of the STF, said it was unclear how long the committee would take to come to a decision.
The efficacy and transparency of the STF in disciplining its members has come under scrutiny following the release of a the Ministry of Education report by Dr. Dennis Kendel in November. He describes the organization as being conflicted in its role as both an advocate and disciplinary body for teachers.
Information regarding how disciplinary committees come to decisions is as yet kept secret. The disciplinary hearings themselves are nominally public yet remain publicly undisclosed by the organization. An investigation in November by StarPhoenix reporter Janet French showed that many teachers whose conduct cost them their employment still remain in good standing with the federation, highlighting a general lack of public information about teacher discipline compared with other professions in Saskatchewan.
