A high school teacher in Coquitlam, British Columbia, has agreed to a one-day suspension of his teaching certificate after sending an email to a student's parents in which he described their son as a 'gangster wannabe' and later speculated to school administrators that the student and a parent were involved in a gang.
Details of the Incident
Kylejeet Singh Grewal sent the 'inappropriate and unprofessional email' expressing frustration with the student in November 2022. He had not raised his concerns with school administrators before writing the letter. In the email, Grewal told the parents that he lacked the expertise to 'help someone who does not want to be helped' and recommended they consult a 'board-certified psychiatrist for evaluation.'
Additional Unprofessional Conduct
Following the initial email, Grewal wrote another 'unprofessional' email about the student to school administrators, in which he speculated that the student and a parent were members of a gang. He also made inappropriate comments about the student to another student while advising them not to date him, stating that the student 'was not a good kid, would not treat them well, had sold drugs, and that they should not be friends' with him.
In a separate incident, Grewal acted 'inappropriately and unprofessionally' during a hallway interaction with two Grade 11 students. The confrontation escalated when Grewal said to the students: 'Are you too much of a pu–y to go to the office?' When a vice-principal informed Grewal that the interaction was under investigation, he confronted one of the students in class, telling him 'that he had no problem giving him a zero on an assignment' and asking: 'Are you going to report me again?'
Grewal later complained about that student to a resource teacher, claiming the student was 'just toxic to me' and had made a 'false complaint' against him.
The pattern of inappropriate comments continued. In one instance, while telling a student to get to class, Grewal said 'that he bet the student felt pretty good about themself for selling drugs to underage kids.' When the student clarified that they worked for their parent, Grewal replied, 'I bet you do.'
Investigation and Suspension
The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation announced the one-day suspension in a signed agreement posted online Tuesday. The commissioner noted that during the district investigation, Grewal 'was repeatedly not forthcoming or honest about the incidents or his conduct.' In May 2023, he received a seven-day suspension without pay from the school district. The commissioner's subsequent investigation resulted in an additional one-day suspension, which was served last month.
