Transgender teacher, Kayla Lemieux, inside the Toronto school shop classroom.
The Halton School District confirmed that Oakville Trafalgar High School shop teacher Kayla Lemieux was put on paid leave Tuesday.
"While not currently on an active assignment, the teacher remains employed with the (Halton District School Board)," spokesperson Heather Francey told the Toronto Sun.
Lemieux's suspension comes after Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Halton Region MPPs Natalie Pierre, Stephen Crawford and Effie Triantafilopoulos rebuked the school board for having "abdicated its responsibility by failing to put the interests and safety of students first," according to The Sun.
One mother named Lynn told the school board Wednesday that "forms of identity and expression presented in the school environment [must] be scrutinized against the child's safeguarding practices."
The board has remained largely quiet about Lemieux while parents have raged for months about her wearing the prosthetics in front of students.
Photos and video taken in school have shown her wearing tight clothing with large nipples protruding under the fabric of her top.
The controversy has sparked numerous threats of violence against Lemieux and school officials.
Board of Education meetings have descended into chaos as it attempts to address the issue.
The saga gained international attention and came to a head after The Post revealed last month that once outside school, Lemieux often ditches the breasts, wig and makeup and appears as a man, which sent shockwaves through the district.
Post photos showed a dressed-down Lemieux wearing men's sweatpants, sneakers and a puffer vest — with no sign of her breasts, makeup, glasses or wig, a getup her neighbor said she wears "extremely infrequently."
She insisted in a sitdown with The Post that the man in the photos was not her — although she admitted she could not prove it — and denied wearing prosthetic breasts at all.
"These are real," Lemieux said, adding that she could not say who the person photographed was "because I don't want to bring anyone else into this."
"This is who I am. This is how I look. You've been talking to people in my building but what they're telling you is harsh and untrue. I am always going out looking the way I am."
© Nick KozakKayla Lemieux on a residential street, not wearing the prosthetic breasts.
The teacher said her extra-large beasts are caused by a condition called "gigantomastia," but also admitted that she's never been officially diagnosed.
Gigantomastia is "a rare condition that involves developing extremely large breasts due to excessive breast tissue growth," according to the renowned Cleveland Clinic, which said there are only about 300 cases reported.
Outraged parents demanded that the Halton District School Board impose a dress code for teachers, which was initially rejected last year due to concerns about violating Ontario's Human Rights Code. In January, the school board agreed to develop a policy requiring that teachers maintain an "appropriate and professional" appearance.
Lemieux told The Post that she "would follow the direction of the board on what they mandated" but denied that she dressed in a provocative fashion.
"I don't think there's any problem with how I have dressed. It's the personal opinion of other people. I don't think I have dressed unprofessionally," she said.
I suspect both.