Kayla Lemieux given police escort for first day at new Toronto school
The Canadian teacher who caused outrage by wearing Z-size prosthetic breasts to teach shop class last year was given a police escort to her first day teaching at a new school.
Kayla Lemieux was flanked by officers in an unmarked police car for her journey to Nora Frances Henderson Secondary School Tuesday, where she is taking part in a Professional Activities (PA) day — a planning day for teachers before students arrive tomorrow.
Lemieux was not wearing the controversial oversize prosthetic breasts and persented a male appearance, sporting a short stubble and wearing a light blue T-shirt and sunglasses.
Lemieux, in a white Mazda SUV, was led by the police in a separate car and arrived at 9.16am — half an hour after the rest of the teachers had gathered in the school cafeteria to discuss the upcoming school term.
Lemieux and the escorting officers parked their cars at the back of the school, away from the other teachers.
The outing comes just a week after the school warned that there may be “protests” and “disruptions” over Kayla Lemieux’s hiring, in a memo obtained by the Toronto Sun.
Principal Tom Fisher warned parents the school may attract negative attention over the hiring, noting that the school would add new safety measures to protect students and faculty in the upcoming school year.
These safety precautions include “having students enter and exit the building using assigned doors at entry and dismissal” and “locking exterior doors during school hours, only using the front main doors during school hours,” according to the memo.
Fisher assured parents the school and district are not now dealing with any “safety concerns,” and the memo is only meant to keep parents in the loop so they are not blindsided by “possible media interest onsite and protests.”
Lemieux was put on paid leave in March by the Halton School District after a photo of her teaching shop with the large prosthetics went viral — angering parents in the district who strongly criticized the school board for failing to impose a stricter dress code on the teacher.
Oakville Trafalgar High School, where Lemieux had taught last year, had been subject to repeated bomb threats related to the teacher.
In an interview with The Post, Lemieux adamantly claimed the breasts were not fake — even after being photographed leaving home without them on.
“I’m not wearing prosthetic breasts. These are real,” Lemieux told The Post back in February.
She also denied the person in pictures of her without the prosthetics was actually her, despite attending Tuesday’s school meeting in a similar outfit.
It’s unclear if Lemieux was fired or left her previous post of her own volition as she prepares to start her new job at the neighboring high school.
Neighbors also told the Post they have previously spotted Lemieux on the roof of their apartment complex not wearing a wig or the prosthetics.
Lemieux currently lives about 25-minutes away from her new job, but she has recently put her home up for sale.