The transgender high school teacher who caused an international sensation by sporting outlandish mammoth breasts and tight tops to her shop class is not an employee with the Halton school board, True North has learned.
Two inside sources say Kayla Lemieux is actually a long-time teacher with the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) who went on leave last year.
A source told Truth North that Lemieux was a 16-year teacher at the HWDSB and most recently taught at Ancaster High School.
Kerry went on “general leave” during the winter/spring semester of this year and that was the last he (at the time) was seen in the Hamilton board, the source added.
Until he popped up at Oakville Trafalgar High school, that is.
On Sept. 17, True North reported that pictures of the teacher, who now goes by Kayla Lemieux, had gone viral on social media.
The teacher was photographed in her shop class wearing a busty prosthetic under tight shirts – showing fake nipples – together with biking shorts and blond hair (likely a wig).
She is demonstrating wood-cutting on a saw while the fake breasts hang dangerously close and her hair dangles. She is not wearing any protective equipment.
Since then the board’s recently appointed director, Curtis Ennis, who came from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), and the trustees have done virtually nothing to manage the issue, no doubt hoping it will go away – while newspapers around the world have picked up the story and the pictures.
Catherine Kronas, who is running for trustee with the HWDSB, said Halton became the “laughing stock of the world” over its handling of this matter. She vows to ensure Hamilton doesn’t make the same mistake.
At the end of September education minister Stephen Lecce finally indicated that the Ontario College of Teachers is reviewing professional standards in the wake of this teacher’s obscene choice of dress.
The source said Lemieux was always pretty secretive and didn’t seem to have a wife or children.
Asked whether Lemieux is still an employee with the HWDSB, media spokesman Shawn McKillop said it is a human resource matter that is “currently being investigated” and for this reason, no information can be provided.
He indicated the staff contact list on the Ancaster High website is “outdated” and has since been removed.
But another source provided a contact card from the HWDSB which lists her as Kerry located at Ancaster High.
The Ancaster school itself also has her listed as Kerry with her email address.
Lemieux was listed as Kayla on the Oakville Trafalgar website but when the story broke in mid-September, all staff names were removed.
The first source said Ennis is a nice person but takes the “path of least resistance” when it comes to matters like this.
“If there is no oversight this is going to continue to happen,” the source said.
Meanwhile a memo went out from the Halton school board in the middle of last week, giving a long list of instructions as to what costumes students should and shouldn’t wear for Hallowe’en.
It warns students and their parents that costumes mimicking the attire of an ethnic, religious, racial or gender group are “inappropriate and unacceptable.”
No doubt to run interference about Lemieux’s outrageous dress, the memo states that “this includes dressing in clothing of the opposite gender that is demeaning.”
Board officials say that pretending to be a member of a group for “fun” is “evidence of cultural appropriation” and sends the message that cultural attire is a “costume” that can be worn for “entertainment purposes.”
The memo also advises that costumes which intend to “incite fear and anxiety for others” are not acceptable and “special sensitivity needs to be exercised around oppression of the group.”
(Oh my if only the politically incorrect comedienne Joan Rivers were still alive. She’d have a heyday).
The first source says, quite rightly, it is foolish (and nonsensical) to think that Lemieux can dress like she does with impunity but students have rules around costumes they can wear, together with a dress code.
Kronas adds that the board needs to ensure there is a dress code in place (for teachers) to protect children from being forced to be in a classroom with a teacher outfitted like that.
“It is inappropriate for a teacher to come dressed to school like that. Period,” she said. “Parents are outraged that their childrens’ well-being was dismissed and their concerns ignored in this matter…this is a clear example of wokeness gone too far.”
