Teacher had sex with student, helped others cheat on assessments

A teacher has been struck off after the Teacher's Disciplinary Tribunal found she had sexual relations with a student and engaged in a range of serious misconduct involving other students. Matekino Matthews had her registration cancelled after she was found guilty of serious misconduct following a hearing in March, with the decision released in May. The tribunal found Matthews had an inappropriate relationship with a college student, referred to as Student A, that included a sexual relationship on numerous occasions. "The sexual relationship was to the fullest degree and occurred on numerous occasions," the tribunal said. Matthews also gave "special treatment" to Student A which included touching him in class with her leg, communicating with him over text and Facebook Messenger, and encouraging him to confide in her and confiding in him about personal matters. She was also found guilty of serious misconduct involving other students at the school. The tribunal found she spent time with students outside school, including Student A, for non-educational purposes, allowed a student to refer to her as "mum", provided cigarettes to an under-18 student and let learner drivers operate her vehicle and a school van without proper supervision. She was also found to have left students unattended in class, altered attendance records to allow students to be absent from classes and helped students cheat in their Māori Performing Arts assessments. During the online hearing in March, the tribunal received sworn evidence from several staff members and students, including Student A. "After hearing his evidence, we briefly adjourned and deliberated, and then indicated that we accepted his evidence," the tribunal said. The tribunal said the sexual relationship with Student A alone was enough to establish serious misconduct but the remaining conduct would also have met that threshold. It concluded that cancelling Matthews’ registration was "the only appropriate sanction". Matthews did not appear at the hearing, although the tribunal said it was satisfied she was aware of the proceedings and had been given the opportunity to take part. "Even if Ms Matthews had engaged with us, it is very unlikely that any amount of positive change on her part would have changed this outcome," the tribunal said. Matthews was ordered to pay $16,000 in costs to the Complaints Assessment Committee, as well as $1000 to the Teaching Council. Permanent non-publication orders had been issued to protect the identities of the former student witnesses and any evidence that could identify them. However, the tribunal declined to suppress Matthews' name. It also decline to suppress the school's identity – although the tribunal's decision did not name it – but ordered the timeframe of the relationship not be published to reduce the risk of identifying Student A.