Former Sask. teacher found guilty of professional misconduct for sleepovers with student

The discipline committee for Saskatchewan teachers has given a former La Ronge principal a six-month suspension of her teaching certificate after a professional misconduct hearing in Regina.

On behalf of the Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board, the committee ordered that Martina Cain's teaching certificate be suspended for half a year from the date of the decision on April 3.

Now retired, Cain was a teacher, coach, and later principal at Churchill Community High School in La Ronge, Sask.

A former student brought forth complaints of misconduct related to alleged incidents between 1986 and 1989.

During her professional misconduct hearing, Cain denied having inappropriate interactions with her former student — who was a teenage girl at the time.

The allegations include allowing the girl to sleep in her bed on multiple occasions, urging her to steal an A&W tray, getting the student and other basketball players to play "strip basketball" and having the student remove her bathing suit to join her in a hot tub.

Professional misconduct was proven with respect to two of the four charges.

Sleepovers and strip basketball

Cain admitted that the girl, who she looked after at times, did have sleepovers in her bed, but noted her living room was sparsely furnished and didn't have a sofa.

While it found that there was no malicious intent from Cain, the disciplinary committee said the activity "confused the Student-Teacher relationship, and was a boundary violation."

Cain said she did introduce strip basketball to the students but denied any knowledge of the team doing anything except removing shoes and socks.

The committee could not find proof that Cain was, in fact, in the room when the drill went to the point of one student removing her shorts and bra, but determined that Cain did not properly restrict the rules of the drill.

"As a result of her actions and inactions, the drill was allowed to progress to where it did on that one occasion, causing humiliation," reads the decision. "These were acts of omissions that, in the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded as disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional."

The committee did not prove the allegations regarding the restaurant tray or the hot tub.

Fine ordered

Cain was in her mid-20s at the start of her career, and the committee described her as young and relatively inexperienced at the time of the allegations.

She took her first teaching position in 1986, when some of the incidents allegedly took place.

Cain retired in June 2016.

The sleepovers and strip basketball were never mentioned to the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation or the complainant's parents at the time they happened.

The investigation and hearing came at a total cost of $49,513.45, but because Cain wasn't found to have held up the hearing in any way, she has only been asked to pay $5,000 within 30 days.

If she refuses, Cain's teaching certificate would be suspended until the costs are fully paid.