Ontario College of Teachers urges school to ask teacher who wears massive prosthetic breasts to school to act professionally

The Ontario College of Teachers has completed a review of the situation involving a male teacher wearing enormous prosthetic breasts to class. They concluded that professional conduct provisions do not need to be strengthened because it is already within the power of the board to find a solution.

The teacher's massive prosthetic breasts and the unwillingness of any administrator to do anything about it has turned the region into an international laughing stock and resulted in the school dealing with angry protests, bomb threats and threats of gun violence.

Stephen Lecce, Ontario’s minister of education, had requested a review of the code of conduct back in September after Oakville became the focus of intense international scrutiny and ridicule when photographs of a male shop teacher wearing obscene fetish gear in a classroom full of students began to circulate on social media.

The National Post obtained a copy of the review provided to Lecce and reported that the College concluded that “the onus” is on the teacher, who has been identified as Kayla Lemieux, to act in a professional manner, and the Halton District School Board’s (HDSB) policies should already outline “how employees are expected to conduct themselves.”

“[The College’s] Council has concluded that the standards, governing legislation and supporting resources appropriately address professionalism in today’s modern learning environment,” says the report. “In conducting this review, we were mindful of controversy regarding images of a teacher wearing prosthetic breasts in the classroom, which has been the subject of recent media reports.”

“All Ontario Certified Teachers, in their position of trust, are expected to demonstrate responsibility and sound judgement in their relationships with students, parents, guardians, colleagues, educational partners, other professionals, the learning environment, and the public,” continued the report.

A group of concerned parents of children at the Oakville Trafalgar High School have come together to take action. The newly-formed Students First Ontario group is fundraising to bring legal action against the HDSB for its failure to protect their children in this situation.

A timeline of events on the group’s website documents the protests, bomb threats, and threats of gun violence that staff and students have been subjected to, and describes the frustration parents have felt at having their concerns ignored by the school board.

According to lawyer Howard Levitt in a recent article in the Financial Post, the parents have a strong case. Levitt believes the suggestion that the HDSB is legally unable to ask Lemieux not to wear the fetish gear in the classroom “is so stupid and contrary to law that we wonder what motivated it.” 

Levitt suggests that the HDSB is a “victim of wokeness” which has left it afraid to take the necessary action because of the teacher’s self-declared transgender identity. 

“Recognizing gender identity does not permit vulgarity or sexualization and no lawyer who knew what they were doing could ever have informed Halton otherwise,” said Levitt.

The lawyer also went on to say that the HDSB has a legal obligation to enforce professional conduct by its teachers, and that not to do so would set a dangerous precedent paving the way for more outrageous situations.