A Langley teacher and basketball coach has been disciplined after it was determined he'd slapped students and players on their backs multiple times as a form of punishment.
The incidents occurred during the 2014/15 school year and involved Jonathan Charles Fast, who was coaching a Grade 8 boys basketball team.
According to a consent resolution agreement released by the Teacher Regulation Branch, the incidents involved three players on the team.
In December 2014, Student A left his gym shoes behind after a basketball practice. Fast returned the shoes to the student the next day but also slapped the student in the face — albeit, "not super hard." The student described the slap as a four out of a scale of 10 in terms of intensity.
There were two more incidents, which took place on Jan. 13, 2015.
Fast asked Student A and Student B to remove their shirts in front of their teammates after they admitted to having forgotten to pick up permission forms. The students each received a slap on their bare back with Fast saying "this is what you get when you forget a form."
The slaps hurt the students and left visible marks. Fast admitted the only reason the boys were asked to take their shirts off was to make an example of them in front of their peers.
That same day, Student C told Fast he wanted to take a three-point shot and that if he missed, the coach could slap him on the back. He missed and Fast's slap left red marks on the student.
The document also states that Fast had struck players on the previous year's team on the back during practice if they missed free throws.
The Langley School District issued a letter of discipline on March 2, 2015 and suspended him without pay from March 1, 2015 to June 30, 2015. He was also required to enroll in a mandatory boundaries course and after returning from suspension, was transferred to a different school within the district.
He completed the BCTF boundaries workshop on March 27, 2015. He is also participating in an ongoing peer support program.
The district also stated that should he return to coaching — he also coached rugby at his previous school — he must have another school district employee with him at all coaching events, including practices, for a period of three years.