Kitchener-Waterloo

Assault charges withdrawn after teacher accused of taping Kitchener students agrees to peace bond

Criminal charges against a teacher with the Waterloo Region District School Board were withdrawn Wednesday after a peace bond was put in place, her lawyer confirmed. The 53-year-old has resigned from the board and is barred from working with children for a decade.

53-year-old has resigned from WRDSB, not allowed to work with kids for a decade

Waterloo Region District School Board sign outside their main office.
The masking tape incident involving a teacher with the Waterloo Region District School Board was first reported to police in October 2021. (Waterloo Region District School Board/Twitter)

Criminal charges against a teacher with the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) were withdrawn on Wednesday after the 53-year-old agreed to a peace bond, her lawyer confirmed. 

The teacher has officially resigned from the board and the peace bond will prevent her from working with children for the next decade. CBC News is not naming the teacher due to a publication ban on the identity of the children involved. 

The Waterloo, Ont., woman was charged with two counts of assault in November 2021 after an incident involving two students at Alpine Public School in Kitchener, Ont.

On Oct, 22 2021, regional police received a report from Family and Children's Services of the Waterloo Region, leading to an investigation into allegations that a teacher had taped two children with masking tape while in the classroom, police said.

On Wednesday, Vanora Simpson, the teacher's lawyer, confirmed her client had signed a common law peace bond and the criminal charges were withdrawn at the request of the Crown. 

Simpson confirmed her client has resigned from her position with the school board.

The peace bond, filed in the Ontario Court of Justice before Justice A.T. McKay, bars the teacher from applying for any paid or unpaid positions, or working or volunteering at any public, Catholic or private school in Canada for the next decade. 

It also prohibits the teacher from working with children age 12 or younger and forbids her from possessing any weapons for the next 10 years.