Edmonton Teacher Cleared of ‘No Zero’ Policy Violation Related Charges

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The Alberta Teachers’ Association has announced to have cleared all three charges of unprofessional conduct laid against an Edmonton teacher, Lynden Dorval, almost three years ago for giving students zeros. Mr. Dorval was first suspended and later fired in 2012, when he violated Ross Sheppard High School’s “no-zero” policy and gave zeros to students when they failed to hand in assignments or missed tests.

Prior to clearing all charges, the Alberta appeal board also ruled Dorval was unfairly treated earlier this year. Ross Sheppard’s “no-zero” policy was intended to protect students’ self-esteem but has been reversed since Dorval’s firing related incident in 2012. Dorval did not only face suspension and firing, the former physics teacher also retired early and is no longer teaching. In his remarks, Mr. Dorval questioned that “everybody has said that everything was wrongly done in terms of accusations, so then why aren’t I still teaching in a classroom right now?”

In addition to that, Mr. Dorval also doubted whether or not the association’s hearings should have gone forward in the first place. He said that “I’m obviously happy that I was found not guilty, but still disturbed that my own union would do this to me.” Whereas, in response to the speculations, The Alberta Teachers Association’s Jonathan Teghtmeyer stressed that it was its responsibility to investigate allegations. He said “the association received a complaint of unprofessional conduct against Mr. Dorval, and the association was obligated to investigate that complaint.”