Burnaby teacher banned for sending sexualized messages to students

A Burnaby teacher who admitted sending sexualized messages to Grade 7 and 8 students has been hit with a lifetime teaching ban.

According to a B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation ruling released Tuesday,

Taylor Arthur Attrill was employed as a teacher in School District 41 when he “engaged in serious boundary violations” with young students.

Between June 2017 and May 2018, the ruling states, Attrill invited students to follow him on social media where he posted photos of himself drinking shots in bars; and sent private, inappropriate and sexualized messages to five students in Grades 7 and 8.

Attrill, who received his teaching certificate in December 2016, had previously been warned by a school principal not to exchange text messages, or speak with students outside of school hours or off of school grounds.

After receiving a complaint, the school district suspended Attrill with pay on May 25, 2018.

The teacher later resigned from the district that summer and the complaint against him was forwarded to the commissioner.

Last month, Attrill entered into a consent resolution agreement in which he admitted professional misconduct, and it was agreed that he would never again be able to apply for, or be issued, a teaching certificate.

The ruling amounts to a lifetime ban from teaching in B.C.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Attrill worked as a learning support teacher.