Former Williams Lake Secondary School teacher David Michael Young admitted to having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student, and has now lost his teaching license for the second time, according to a British Columbia College of Teachers web posting.

Young, 36, admitted to and was found guilty of professional misconduct.

A math department head as well as an athletic director and basketball coach at WLSS, Young engaged in a personal relationship with a 15-year-old female student who was a member of the school’s basketball team, in or about December 2005, the posting said.

“Young described the relationship with the student as taking a sexual turn in January 2006, following a senior girl’s basketball trip,” it said.

The College launched an investigation into Young in June and this fall, the College made the final decision to cancel his teaching certificate.

Police investigated, but did not lay charges. Young stopped teaching in Williams Lake in the spring.

This is not the first time Young has had his teaching license cancelled. Nor is it the first time he has been intimately involved with a student. Another record, easily found in the BC College of Teachers website archives, says Young engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student and had his teaching certificate cancelled in August 1998. The Supreme Court of British Columbia later overturned that decision and ordered a one-year suspension for Young.

Young was working at a Chilliwack school in the first case. The report says the relationship with Young and the student became intimate following his suspension. The relationship continued during the grievance process, although Young gave assurances to his employer and the parent of the student involved that he would no longer contact or see the student, said the report.

The fact that Young was hired to work in School District 27 with an earlier incident on his record has raised alarm bells with District Parent Advisory Committee Chair Tammy Gyselinck.

She says she has concerns about the hiring practices in School District 27. A quick web search would have brought up his former case before he was hired, she says.

“I do have concerns about how well the district is doing criminal and reference checks,” she says. “We will be discussing this at our January meeting.”

BC College of Teachers communications co-ordinator Mykle Ludvigsen confirms the report on Young would have remained on the archived section of the website after the Supreme Court decision.

The college also sends out notifications to all licensed teachers and principals. The notification is sent to teacher licensing agencies across Canada and the United States, he adds.

Chair of the Cariboo-Chilcotin school board Wayne Rodier says he doesn’t know the specifics of Young’s case and doesn’t know how he was hired.

“I assume all the normal procedures were followed including reference checking,” said Rodier.

School District superintendent Wayne Leckie says he cannot comment the hiring of any current or former employee, as it is a breech of contract.

But he says the normal procedure is to check references and check if the potential employee is in good standing with the BC College of Teachers.

He added that human resources staff is competent and it is a very thorough process.

Ludvigsen says Young can reapply for a teacher’s license again in two year although the process would be difficult.

Because Young has had two discipline cases he would now be flagged, said Ludvigsen. A fitness sub committee would make the decision to license him. Young would have to make a presentation before the committee. The committee would then determine if he was fit and not a threat to students.
© Copyright 2006 Williams Lake Tribune