Retired teacher slept in same bed as student
A retired Saskatchewan teacher has been found guilty of professional misconduct for sleeping in the same bed as a student and organizing strip basketball drills.
Following a misconduct hearing in February, a discipline committee found the incidents happened between 1986-89, when Martina Cain was a teacher at Churchill Community High School in La Ronge.
A former student said Cain shared her bed with her several times, and at basketball practices told her team to remove an item of clothing for every shot they missed. The complainant also said Cain told her to remove her bathing suit in a private hot tub, but the committee found there was insufficient evidence to prove the incident took place.
Cain’s teaching license has been suspended for six months to ensure “public confidence in the profession,” the committee ruled. Cain retired in 2016.
The professional conduct committee had argued for a $10,000 fine on the four charges, but the discipline committee decided $5,000 was an appropriate amount.
Cain testified at her hearing that the complainant would sleep over when her parents went out of town for medical appointments, and that she allowed the student to sleep in her bed instead of on the floor.
Both Cain and the student said there was no physical contact, but the decision states: “Sharing a bed on multiple occasions ... compromised and confused the studentteacher relationship, and was a boundary violation.”
Cain said she only asked students to take off their shoes and socks during the foul shot drills.
The retired teacher and principal was in her mid-20s and the complainant was in Grades 9-11 at the time of the incidents. The committee found Cain’s young age and inexperience as a teacher were mitigating factors.