Editorial: Teach fraud man a lesson

OPINION: How long does the presumption of innocence for someone facing the courts have to last?

Too long under the rules of the New Zealand Teachers' Council, judging by the case of former school principal Barry Bloomfield.

To recap, Bloomfield is the former Huntly West Primary School head who is serving home detention for ripping his school off through scams. He sold a school fence on TradeMe and claimed more than $17,000 for a fake relief teacher via a bank account set up under a former colleague's name.

Bloomfield was hauled through the courts and duly sentenced but this has not been enough for the Teachers' Council, which is now conducting its own investigation before deciding whether Bloomfield should be allowed to continue teaching.

In the meantime, he remains on the register, with not even a note beside his name indicating his current disgrace.

This is wrong and little more than pompous posturing.

It implies that Bloomfield's own admission of guilt and Judge Robert Spear's original sentence of one year in jail counts for little until the combined wisdom of the Teachers' Council is brought to bear on the case.

It is unlikely the council will find anything different than the "selfish and greedy behaviour" and breach of trust Judge Spear identified. Bloomfield squandered the time and money of both the school and the courts.

Teachers' Council director Peter Lind said its disciplinary tribunal would judge the former principal's position on the registry on whether he would be a danger to students because of his conviction.

Dr Lind is right in placing the welfare of students first and the past roll of expelled teachers shows this, with the vast majority of the 26 teachers struck off between 2005 and 2009 going for matters of a sexual nature, involving teachers developing inappropriate relationships with teenaged students or viewing pornographic material.

Bloomfield's conduct may not make him a danger to individual students, but it does make him a major security risk to schools which might be unaware of his offending on hiring him.

Dr Lind argued that as Bloomfield was on home detention it was unlikely he would be stepping in front of a classroom before April.

This is true, but Dr Lind appears to be missing the chance to send a message that such behaviour is unacceptable and people who do it aren't welcome in schools. That's just the sort of message that makes professional bodies relevant to their members and gives the public confidence in them to police their own affairs.

Bloomfield accepted the consequences of his actions, including the potentially devastating impact on his career, when he took money that might otherwise have been spent on the education of the children in his care. It's time he learned his lesson.

- © Fairfax NZ News