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The Minister of Education is set to meet with the Teaching Council to see if changes need to be made to its investigation process, following a Christchurch teacher’s “serious misconduct”.
The former teacher, legally known as Taurapa but previously known as Connor Taurapa Matthews, has been struck off and had no comment to make.
He was employed as a te reo Māori teacher at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in Christchurch in 2018. Over the course of a year, he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Year 12 pupil Helena Dray. Both were heavily involved in performing arts at the school.
Usually, the names of students in Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal cases are suppressed but in this case, Dray asked the tribunal to waive her name suppression.
Taurapa was simultaneously a house tutor residing in a boarding house at boys' school Christ’s College, which has a strong relationship with Rangi Ruru.
He was also engaged in “inappropriate messaging”, with a girl referred to as Ms Y. She was 16 when he began messaging her, and it continued when she turned 17.
Ms Y, who attended another high school, met him around late September to early October 2018 at Christ’s College.
Taurapa's misconduct was made public on Monday after a suppression order lapsed.
On Friday, following a series of questions from The New Zealand Herald, Education Minister Jan Tinetti said with consideration for the “safety of our students”, she had asked to meet with the Teaching Council to discuss “whether there are any changes needed to the investigation processes for teachers under investigation for misconduct”.
She said all children and young people “should be safe at school”.
“It is simply unacceptable for teachers to conduct any form of inappropriate behaviour. I encourage all children and young people to reach out to a trusted adult if they have any concerns about a teacher’s behaviour.”
On Friday, the Herald approached Taurapa as he got out of his black 2022 Tesla Model 3 in Cheviot.
Asked for comment, he was silent and got back in his car and drove off.
On Tuesday, Christ’s College Board chairman Hugh Lindo told the Herald the school had appointed barrister Janna McGuigan to undertake an independent investigation of all aspects of Taurapa’s employment. This would include talking with those affected.
“I invite anyone who has further information to make direct contact with me so that I can facilitate their involvement in the investigation.
“Christ’s College should have initiated its own investigation into Taurapa’s behaviour as soon as we had been made aware of Ms Y’s complaint. He should have been suspended immediately and removed from the campus while an investigation was undertaken.
“The decision not to investigate at the time is one of the matters that the independent investigation will be considering.”