Two Auckland preschool teachers have been found guilty of serious misconduct after a child was locked in a van in for more than an hour after their class returned from a trip.
A recently released Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal ruling said Mee Sung (Michelle) Choi and Rochelle Gray were working at Kākāpō Creek Children’s Garden in Mairangi Bay on December 1, 2022 when they took nine children on a van trip to a local forest.
The group returned from the trip at around 2.05pm, parking outside the centre to offload children. Teachers Gray and Choi failed to complete a compulsory roll call following the group's return.
Gray took two children inside and left Choi with the van and remaining children, including one sleeping in the front row and one sleeping in the back near the van's left window.
Gray returned to unload more children and bags from the van, before relieving Choi on her lunch break.
The tribunal heard Choi referred to there being "sleepers" in the van. Gray recalled looking at the child sleeping in the front row with Choi and saying, "is that it?".
Gray continued monitoring the child sleeping in the front row, before taking her inside when she woke up.
She then locked the van and went inside the centre at around 2.39pm, leaving the sleeping child in the backseat unattended. She did not do a final check of the van to ensure that no children were still inside.
Gray then left for the day. Choi remained at work and neither she nor the two other staff on duty noticed that the child was missing.
At around 3.28pm, around 80 minutes later, a parent arriving to the centre to collect their child noticed movement in the van and discovered the child inside screaming.
After several minutes, the child was removed from the van and was taken inside to be comforted.
Both teachers later apologised to the family, with Kākāpō Creek Children’s Garden carrying out a disciplinary process and a review of its trip related policies following the incident.
The decision said the child in the backseat was not made "explicitly clear" by Choi, and stated the pair failed to properly communicate the number of children inside the van.
The tribunal found both teachers guilty of serious misconduct but described the incident as a "one-off lapse".
"It is important to note that while the incident itself reflects adversely, it does not mean that they are in fact unfit to teach," it said.
Deputy chairperson Catherine Garvey said Gray and Choi "fully cooperated with the proceedings and showed significant remorse" and undertook further professional developments.
Both teachers were formally censured.
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