B.C. Teacher Receives Three-Day Suspension for Classroom Misconduct

Frank Ian Weniger, a Vancouver School District high school teacher, had his teaching certificate suspended for three days after the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation found he engaged in professional misconduct involving inappropriate treatment of students. The suspension ran from March 11 to March 13, 2026.

The conduct that drew the most attention involved a Valentine's Day incident in February 2024, when Weniger attempted to anonymously send a rose, candy, and a singing telegram to a Grade 11 student in his class. Student council organizers declined to process the request after determining it was inappropriate.

The commissioner's findings stemmed from two separate complaints covering classroom behaviour during the 2021-22 and 2023-24 school years. According to the consent resolution, Weniger admitted his conduct violated professional standards requiring educators to treat students with dignity and respect and maintain a safe and inclusive learning environment. The commissioner characterized the three-day certificate suspension as reflecting Weniger's failure to model appropriate behaviour and to create a positive classroom environment.

The Valentine's Day incident was not his first documented breach. The Vancouver School District suspended Weniger without pay in 2022, though accounts of that suspension differ: some reports put it at five days, while others describe a 10-day suspension accompanied by a mandatory course at the Justice Institute of B.C. reinforcing respectful professional boundaries. A subsequent 10-day suspension issued in 2024 was never served because Weniger resigned his position effective June 30, 2024.

Additional details from the decision indicate Weniger was aware a student involved in the conduct was vulnerable, yet he did not contact the Ministry of Children and Family Development or seek other supports for that student. His initial teaching licence was issued in 1998.

The Weniger case is one of several teacher-discipline matters the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation has resolved in recent years. In a separate, unrelated decision released June 27, a B.C. teacher whose name was withheld had their licence cancelled after the commissioner found they had entered an inappropriate relationship with a Grade 12 student, invited the student to live at their home, told the student they loved them, withheld the student's money and personal belongings, and bought gifts described as sexually explicit in nature. "The teacher used the position of power and trust as a teacher to exert influence and control over every aspect of the student's life," the commissioner wrote in that decision. In a third distinct case, Darren Richard Brown, a teacher at a private B.C. high school, accepted a two-week suspension of his teaching licence after admitting to sending inappropriate late-night social media messages to recently graduated students in 2022, including compliments, invitations for coffee or an "adult beverage," and a message containing a sexual innuendo. The commissioner noted Brown "demonstrated a pattern of boundary violations and showed a lack of understanding of appropriate professional boundaries."

The full text of the consent resolution in Weniger's case is available through the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation's public registry.