A BC teacher’s license was revoked after he admitted to exchanging inappropriate messages with students and trying to date two of them as soon as they graduated from high school.
Joseph James Hizon Arnesto signed a consent agreement late last month, agreeing to the revocation of his teacher’s certificate and a 10-year ban on re-applying to teach, according to summary published on Tuesday by the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.
The report said Arnesto crossed the border with “several students” during his 7th to 12th grade teaching at an unnamed independent school, although he was warned to maintain professional boundaries.
“Arnesto’s inappropriate behavior has been happening on various occasions for several years,” the summary said.
Arnesto’s interactions with four students are described in detail in the document. Identifying information about the location of the school or the gender of the students is not included.
The first incident involved a 12th grader he met outside of a coffee school and sent text messages, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. Arnesto admitted that shortly after the student graduated, he “made it clear that he wanted to pursue a romantic relationship”, the summary said.
He goes on to say that he started sending messages to the second student using multiple platforms when they were only in 8th grade, asking them questions about their personal lives and family.
Two years before the second student graduated, the school principal warned Arnesto to be careful about his relationship with the student and told him not to discuss non-school issues with any students.
However, Arnesto continued to send messages to the second student for a total of four years, after which he waited less than a week after the student graduated before informing them that he was interested in a romantic relationship, the summary said.
Meanwhile, just two months before the second student graduated, Arnesto received a written warning from the principal after he was found sending personal messages to a third student, then in 8th grade.
Arnesto also began exchanging messages with a fourth student when they were in 10th grade, sometimes discussing school work but also asking about the student’s romantic life, according to the summary.
The school principal made a report to the Teachers’ Regulatory Branch for Arnesto in July 2020 and his contract was not renewed for the 2020-2021 school year.
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