A group of parents, known as Students First Ontario (SFO), feels the controversial transgender Oakville teacher will soon go back to the classroom. As such, the group is demanding that the license of the teacher, Kayla Lemieux, be suspended for two years and abide by certain guidelines before returning.
The group believes Lemieux, a former shop teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School, is still under-employed by the Halton District School Board (HDSB) but is currently not given any classroom duties.
For many months, Lemieux was the centre of controversy at the school during her transition. At that time, she portrayed her unusually big breasts and wore a blonde wig and tight clothing. She insisted her breasts were real though most media reports suggest they are prosthetic.
Her appearance triggered many protests at the school as well as bomb threats. Groups such as the SFO later appeared and demanded that the school board remove her from the classroom.
A statement issued by SFO claims that more than 91 percent of survey respondents are concerned that Lemieux will soon return to the classroom. Below 70 people took part in the survey.
Also, the group says most parents are not happy with how the HDSB handled the situation and are concerned about future reoccurrences. The parents also believe the board is acting too slowly in enforcing a dress code policy that would specify the type of clothing that Lemieux was wearing at school. Therefore, the SFO wants the board to undergo a leadership review of its senior staff over the way they handled the situation.
The HDSB does not respond directly to singular staff issues and has handled the situation as a board-wide operational issue since the start of the controversy last September when Lemieux went back to the classroom for the school year.
The board says it has been carrying out its own survey that deals with the professionalism policy of the system. According to the board, 8,600 parents, staff and students provided feedback. The result of the survey has not been released by the board.
In a statement made available to the media, the board said it was setting an example for students which shows that it is inclusive, accepting and believes in upholding human rights for every person in the school community.
The statement read: “We recognize there are some select voices in this conversation, but there are other voices too. We have heard from students, parents/guardians and staff who quietly assure us that not everyone feels the same way as some of these voices.”
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