WATCH ABOVE: Sean O’Shea reports that a former girlfriend of Joseph Smith says he shared photos and videos of his students on social media.
TORONTO – A Toronto elementary school teacher who appears to be smoking marijuana on video and is said to have shared images of students in his classroom should be dismissed, says a former girlfriend.
The whistleblower says Joseph Smith, 26, videotaped students in his classroom and shared the videos on the social network service WhatsApp. There is also video of Smith’s class in the school yard.
“If I had children, I would definitely not want my child taped in class,” said the whistleblower who calls herself Maureen. Global News agreed to conceal her identity because she said she fears retribution within her community.
WATCH ABOVE: Pot-smoking teacher refuses Global News questions
Maureen was a former girlfriend of Smith, who teaches a grade one and grade two split class at Stilecroft Public School in North York. He is on a one-year teaching contract.
“If you’re a teacher, a police officer, a lawyer, you will not allow yourself to be videotaped, or videotape yourself doing something you’re not supposed to be doing,” she told Global News.
According to Maureen, the videos were shared on the social network service WhatsApp, but some were later posted publicly on YouTube by someone other than Smith. Maureen says they have since been taken down.
One video shows Smith looking to camera with glassy eyes saying: “I’m high. Really high.”
Another video shot in a kitchen shows Smith smoking what appears to be marijuana. He was aware he was being recorded.
According to Maureen, another video recorded and distributed through the WhatsApp service is one posted by another, unidentified teacher and shared by Smith with at least six people. One video in particular showed a teenager acting out and being asked to sit down by another student.
“She’s dancing around she’s not doing what she’s supposed to. And that child is being critiqued by all the other people that are watching the video and it’s not in a good light,” said Maureen.
In voice notes on WhatsApp, which allows audio messages to be shared, Maureen says Smith did not respect students’ privacy.
“He would name the person, he would name the child, and he would also state what kind of impact that’s having on the other children,” she said.
Global News attempted for almost a month to reach Smith for comment. This week, he was approached by a Global News team in the parking lot after school.
“No comment,” was Smith’s response when asked about claims he was recording video in the classroom and distributing the content. When asked if it was appropriate for a teacher to be videotaped smoking pot, Smith said “I didn’t shoot anything, sir.”
The Toronto District School Board and school trustees were sent information about Smith including links to the videos on February 17. A public relations employee emailed trustees the same day, saying “please ignore as this email appears to be nothing more than a prank.”
Global News raised the issue with the TDSB this week and a spokesperson told Global News the board has investigated and considers the Facebook posts brought to their attention to be “personal matters.”
“Facebook posts containing video and text messages were brought to our attention last month. We have no evidence of any wrongdoing. We believe this to be a personal matter outside of the Board’s purview and will not be commenting further,” TDSB spokesperson Ryan Bird said. “In response to your question about the use of marijuana, the Board does not condone any illegal activity.”
Smith continues to teach at the school.
But Maureen says Smith has no place in the classroom right now.
“Of course not, it shows that he has no judgement. It shows he’s not sensible. It shows that he’s immature. It shows that he’s careless, and this is someone’s who’s teaching our children.”
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