The Yukon Teachers’ Association (YTA) executive tried to stop its president from pursuing investigation of a teacher suspected of posing a safety threat to students at a Whitehorse elementary school, according to emails obtained by the Star.

“(T)here is no basis to continue investigation or review of (the individual’s) standing to be a teacher in Yukon,” states a March 10 email from acting president Carol Sherlock to president Katherine Mackwood – currently on medical leave – and copied to other members of the executive committee.

“In consideration of how we would like to be treated in our work environment... I respectfully urge you not to engage in conjecture moving forward.”

Sherlock wrote that Mackwood’s actions could prompt claims of libel and defamation, “exposing both yourself and YTA to potential liability.”

Mackwood had informed Education Minister Doug Graham and the Yukon social services branch in late February of the teacher’s history of professional misconduct.

Shortly after, Sherlock apologized to the individual for any damage to his “professional reputation and standing,” and told Mackwood that she “should do the same.”

The teacher is no longer a Yukon public employee, having resigned or been fired within the past six weeks in spite of the YTA’s efforts.

The Star has chosen not to name him for privacy reasons.

In 2005, the individual was fired from his position at an Ontario Catholic school.

As a little league coach several years earlier, he had offered alcohol to adolescent boys in an online chatroom and served it during a sleepover.

An Ontario College of Teachers disciplinary panel found him guilty of “professional misconduct.”

Pat Daly, head of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, fired the teacher 10 years ago after receiving letters from parents about the man’s conduct as a baseball and basketball coach at a children’s aid society.

Daly gave the Star the odds on his re-hiring the individual: “Absolutely not.”

Sherlock told Mackwood, however, that the YTA considers the individual “a member of good character and professional standing, being a fit and proper person to be employed within Yukon schools.”

The man had completed a three-month remediation course ordered by the Ontario disciplinary panel and is technically in “good standing” in that province.

A second email, also sent by Sherlock on March 10, attempted to strip Mackwood of her authority as YTA president.

“By way of executive committee resolution you are directed to not represent yourself as an office holder of the YTA until such time that you return to your employment with YTA and are again medically fit to perform your duties,” Sherlock wrote on behalf of the executive.

The acting president cited a YTA bylaw, which states the vice-president shall “perform all the duties of the president in the president’s absence or incapacity.”

The same bylaw, however, states the vice-president shall “assist the president in the execution of his/her duties wherever possible.”

Jill Mason, the YTA president-elect – slated to assume the role this summer – is a longtime executive committee member and currently serves as treasurer.

The YTA did not return calls by the Star before press time this afternoon.

Mackwood noted the YTA’s dual role in Yukon pedagogy, but stressed its primary obligation to students.

“The cause of education is paramount, and not the individuals providing it, when the safety and well-being of our students are in jeopardy,” she told the Star in an email Saturday.

“We are not to protect undesirables even if they are part of our membership.

“The YTA is a professional organization with union responsibilities, not the other way around,” Mackwood added.

The Teaching Profession Act says the teacher’s association’s first objective is to “advance and promote the cause of education in the Yukon.”

It also lists “supporting recruitment and selection practices which ensure capable candidates for teacher education.”

The association should balance this with a view to “safeguard the interests of the teaching profession and its members,” along the lines of a union.

“The profession of education is truly the noblest of all and needs fearless, observant, objective and open leadership in order to protect and sustain it,” Mackwood said.

The YTA held its annual general meeting Saturday at the Coast High Country Inn Convention Centre, where both executives, including Mackwood addressed members.

An article in Friday’s edition stated the teacher suspected of posing a threat to the safety of Yukon elementary school students was removed from the classroom in late February. In fact, he was taken out of the classroom several weeks later, after Education Minister Doug Graham investigated the issue.