A School District 23 teacher has been reprimanded by the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation after multiple issues of “professional misconduct”.
Kelly Jean Hettinga, a teacher in the Central Okanagan school district and former volleyball coach, is being ordered to complete a professional boundaries course after his involvements in incidents involving a student being pantsed and an argument with a parent.
Hettinga’s situation began with an incident on Sept. 18, 2021, when he and members of his school’s senior girls volleyball team were travelling back home after playing in an out-of-town volleyball tournament.
During the trip back, the group took a break at a public rest stop, and a few players used the washroom where one student, who was not named in the resolution, was pantsed by a group of their teammates. A video of the incident was also allegedly recorded.
Hettinga learned about the pantsing a day later, after the affected student’s parents reached out to him about the incident, asking him to address it.
The day after that, the affected student addressed their teammates, expressing their “hurt and embarrassment from the pantsing”, and requesting that any video of the incident be deleted and be told if the video was sent to anyone else.
Hettinga also told the team to delete the video and not share it. He did not report the incident to the school’s administration as it wasn’t part of the agreed course of action discussed between him and the affected student’s parents.
Still, the school found out about the incident in November 2021, when the affected student’s parents explained the situation to the school.
During that month, the school held meetings with Hettinga, the affected students and their parents, as well as the students who were identified as being involved in the pantsing incident.
Despite this, during a Nov. 18, 2021, meeting, volleyball practice, Hettinga told the team that “he was not going to change how he runs the team based on outside influences, whether it be parents or other things.”
On Feb. 15, 2022, the parents of the affected student made a complaint to the commissioner.
A few months later, on May 5, 2022, SD23 issued a three-day suspension for Hettinga without pay, as well as requiring him attend a professional boundaries course and suspending him from coaching until June 30, 2025.
He served the suspension and completed the professional boundaries course.
A few days after the reprimand was issued, Hettinga fell into another incident on May 8, 2022.
While coaching during a community volleyball tournament, Hettinga’s team found themselves matched against a team containing the student affected in the pantsing incident. One of the linespersons judging the game was identified as being the parent of one of the students on the team opposing Hettinga.
During the match, Hettinga believed the parent made a wrong call that benefited his child’s team.
It was reported that Hettinga called the parent a “prick” before an argument between them broke out.
Following this, in October 2023, Hettinga was suspended for eight more days and barred from contacting the student affected by the pantsing or the parent he argued with in the volleyball game. He is also barred from coaching duties until June 30, 2028.
In the consent resolution agreement between Hettinga and the Commissioner, Hettinga admitted that his actions in the pantsing incident and argument with a parent “constitute professional misconduct” and break standards set by the Professional Standards for BC Educators.
He was ordered to complete the Reinforcing Respectful Boundaries course through the Justice Institute of British Columbia by May 1, 2026. The commissioner ordered that if Hettinga doesn’t complete the course by that date or an extended date, then Hettinga’s certificate of qualification could be suspended until the course’s completion.
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