A BC teacher who separated her class by race for a Black History Month lesson had her certificate suspended as punishment..The lesson she was teaching was focused on segregation..The incident occurred February 15 according to a consent resolution agreement between teacher Diana Maria Lontayao and BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation..The agreement was reached last month, but was posted online Tuesday.."In honor of Black History Month, there was an announcement over the school's PA system telling students the story of Rosemary Brown, the first black woman elected to a Canadian legislature," the agreement read..After listening to the announcement Lontayao asked her Grade 2 students if they understood what segregation meant. When the students did not seem to understand she decided to get engaged in a "spontaneous exercise to explain segregation to the class.".Lontayao then asked a student to cordon off a small corner of the gym with cones. She then asked her class saying "all the brown kids, you go into that corner.".Three children who are visible minorities went to the corner of the room as instructed and were given one noodle to play tag with, as they were a smaller group of students. The rest of the class was given three noodles as they were a much larger group of students. She then told the students two groups of students can neither play nor talk with one another.."After the students have been playing, she blew the whistle for a water break. She announced the children in the majority group were entitled to get water first and that those students playing in the corner had to wait," the agreement read..At this point, one of the students in the minority group began to cry and briefly left the classroom with the educational assistant. She then explained to the students how unfair it was that in the past, they would not have been allowed to play together on account of their race. And that it was because of the efforts of people like Rosemary Brown that they could play and learn together when the student returned to the classroom..The teacher apologized to the student and brought the activity to an end. Some students reported not understanding why she conducted this activity, and more than one student reported being very upset..On March 15, the district issued her a letter of discipline and suspended her for 20 days without pay. She served the suspension from March 28 until April 22. The district also required her to complete a course learning about racism offered through the Canadian Race Relations Foundation..The district reassigned her to a different school, the agreement reads..The one-day suspension of Lontayao's teaching certificate represents the commissioner's addition to the discipline the teacher has already faced..According to the agreement, the suspension reflects Lontayao's breach of "Standard 1" of the Professional Standards for BC Educators.."Lontayao failed to treat students with dignity and respect and did not show sufficient care for their mental and emotional wellbeing," the discipline document said..The teacher served her one-day suspension on Monday..Campbell River, or Wiwek̓a̱m, is a city in BC on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage.
