A Salmon Arm teacher had his teaching licence suspended for three days last year after driving a school bus with students on board at speeds of up to 116 km/h in a 60 km/h zone.
Gregory Seed was cited by the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch for the incident, which took place on September 30, 2011. His suspension took place on Oct. 31, 2012; however the decision was released to the public in a report and online last week, which detailed nine new teacher discipline decisions. None of the other teachers who received reprimands were from School District #83.
The report indicated that, on Sept. 30, 2011, Seed was driving a school bus carrying district students as part of a school field trip. GPS data from the bus showed that Seed was driving above 100 km/hour on one road and up to 116.2 km/hour on another road, where posted speed limits for both roads were 60 km/hour. The school district also received two complaints from members of the public reporting that the bus was being driven recklessly. On Nov. 4, 2011, the RCMP issued a speeding ticket to Seed.
“I do deeply regret driving over the speed limit to make my field trip...,” Seed told the Observer.
The Teacher’s Regulation Branch notes the purpose of publishing discipline decisions is to provide the public with the confidence that educators who fail to meet the standards are held accountable.
School District #83 also initiated its own discipline measures, but would not comment on their actions. Seed indicated that in addition to the three-day unpaid suspension, he was docked one day’s pay by School District #83. He has also successfully completed a re-training program on school-bus driving since the incident.
The records of all licensed B.C. teachers are available for review on the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch at http://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/CertificateServices/FindATeacher.aspx.