Bacchus Marsh Grammar teacher Michael McIntyre faces Victorian Institute of Teaching hearing accused of professional misconduct

A former Bacchus Marsh Grammar teacher and marathon champion runner failed to “maintain professional boundaries” with girls at his school.

Former Bacchus Marsh Grammar teacher and Melbourne marathon champion Michael McIntyre has admitted he sent inappropriate emails to girls he taught and “stupidly” gifted one of them beer, but wants to continue teaching.

Mr McIntyre faced a hearing before a Victorian Institute of Teaching panel on Friday, where it was alleged he repeatedly breached professional standards while working as an accounting and economics teacher.

Barrister Nicholas Petrie, for the institute, said the panel would have to determine whether the allegations against Mr McIntyre were proven and whether they amounted to serious misconduct.

Michael McIntyre, pictured during his heyday as a marathon runner.

Bacchus Marsh Grammar accounting and economics teacher Michael Mcintyre faced a Victoria Institute of Teaching hearing on Friday. Picture: Supplied

The allegations include Mr McIntyre sending a girl a bunch of flowers and a card for her 18th birthday, with the card referring to a “sneaky” kiss on the cheek.

It is also alleged Mr McIntyre sen another student a series of late night emails calling her a “beautiful girl” and saying “no one I have taught has ever shown me as much love as you”.

It is further alleged he described a picture of the girl as being a “lovely chick in this pretty revealing top”.

Mr Petrie said the institute would argue Mr McIntyre’s breaches of professional standards were “not momentary or trivial”.

Mr McIntyre has not taught since May 2018, and was formally suspended in June of that year, pending the outcome of the hearing.

Marathon winner Michael McIntyre, pictured receiving a massage, is fighting some of the professional misconduct allegations levelled at him by the teaching regulator. Picture: Supplied

Reading from a prepared statement at Friday’s hearing, Mr McIntyre admitted some of the allegations but said the investigation into him had been unfair.

He said he racked up $40,000 in legal fees before he was sacked.

He said being suspended from teaching and facing the “distressing” disciplinary hearing had ruined his “37 year reputation for kindness and compassion”.

“I accept without question that my email correspondence at times was not professional,” he said.

Mr McIntyre admitted he occasionally went “beyond an acceptable teacher student relationship”.

“It was my responsibility to maintain professional boundaries but I failed to do so,” he said.

He said he gave a student a can of beer as a “joke”, not intending her to drink it.

“It was pretty stupid not to empty the can, the joke would have been just as funny,” he said.

“Humour has been an integral part of my teaching since I began.”

He said he gave a girl a kiss on the cheek without thinking.

“It was … something I do as a matter of course with my family and friends,” he said.

Mr McIntyre, who won the 1999 Melbourne Marathon, denied condoning students’ drug use, saying that as a former elite athlete he “deplored” drugs.

The hearing, much of which is closed to the public, is due to continue on Monday.