A BC man has been banned from teaching for 10 years by the provincial regulatory body for trying to start romantic relationship with students. The man worked at an independent school. The school or the region was not mentioned in the decision by the BC Commissioner of Teacher Regulation.
According to the documents, Joseph James Hizon Arnesto admitted to appropriate behaviour with students and agreed that it was misconduct and conduct unbecoming. According to the decision, Arnesto breached professional boundaries by meeting with ‘Student A’ over coffee and discussed personal matters, and exchanged messages through texts, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.
When the student graduated, Arnesto made it clear that he wished to pursue a romantic relationship with Student A.
He also started exchanging messaged with another student on Facebook and Instagram. In some of these exchanges, Arnesto would ask ‘Student B’ personal questions about their life and family. Less than a week after the student graduated, he indicated to the student he wanted a romantic relationship. He also exchanged messages with another student and veered the conversation towards their romantic life.
He was verbally reminded by the school principal about the need to keep boundaries and later warned by an official letter. His contract for the 2021 school year was also not renewed. Arnesto has agreed to the cancellation of his certificate of qualification as a teacher and will not be able to apply for a teaching job for the next ten years.
“Joseph James Hizon Arnesto admitted to appropriate behaviour with students” … I would call it inappropriate behaviour.