The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said in a decision posted this week that middle-school teacher Alex Chen sent more than 80 messages to a student over a two-year period.
A middle-school teacher in the Saanich School District was fired and has had his teaching certificate suspended for two weeks after allegations of inappropriate email contact with a student and using sick time to take a personal vacation.
The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said in a decision posted this week that Alex Chen sent more than 80 messages to a student over a two-year period — including a recommendation that the student listen to sexually explicit music and an email sent at 11:55 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
He also attended the games of a team the student was on, even though he was not involved as a coach or teacher, the decision said.
The school district terminated Chen’s employment on May 5, 2025 after previously raising concerns about him, and made a report about him to the commissioner on May 8, 2025.
The decision said Chen had been issued a letter of discipline by the school district on March 10, 2025, following allegations that he had recorded personal social-media content during work time, and had used student artwork and thank-you cards without their permission as part of the content.
He then used three days of sick leave as part a spring-break vacation to Japan, starting the day after the letter of discipline was issued, the decision said.
Chen entered into a “consent resolution agreement” with the commissioner on April 7, 2026, admitting professional misconduct, and agreed to his two-week suspension.
He is also prohibited from taking on a teaching role before completing the course Reinforcing Respectful Professional Boundaries through the Justice Institute of B.C.
The commissioner pointed to the fact that Chen’s conduct with the student occurred over a “significant” period of time and involved repeated violations of professional boundaries. Chen’s “lack of understanding” of those boundaries and the fact that he booked off time for sick leave even though he had been disciplined a day earlier, were also cited.
[email protected]
