‘Get to work or I will kill you’: B.C. teacher disciplined over comment to student

A empty hallway is seen at a school in this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A high-school teacher in northern B.C. has been handed a one-day suspension for misconduct for making a remark that made a student feel “uncomfortable and awkward,” according to the professional regulator.

Ingrid Anne Stengler was teaching Grade 9 in the Prince George school district in 2023 when the incident occurred, a consent resolution agreement posted online Tuesday by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said.

“Stengler told Student A, in front of Student A’s classmates, to ‘get to work or I will kill you.’ Student A reported feeling uncomfortable and awkward as a result of this. One of Student A’s classmates reported feeling ‘weird’ after Stengler said this,” according to the agreement.

Stengler had been issued a “letter of expectation” over similar conduct the previous year, telling her to “use words with students that are not hurtful in their meaning and/or that cannot be perceived as threats, even when said in a joking manner,” the agreement noted.

Imposing a one-day suspension was deemed appropriate in light of the previous warning and because Stengler “failed to create a positive learning environment,” the agreement said.

The teacher was also required to complete a course on creating a positive environment.