The ever-changing saga in Halton public school board has a new twist! Kayla Lemieux - the teacher at Oakville Trafalgar High School in Oakville who continues to generate headlines for certain outrageous apparel and behaviour – is no longer in the classroom.

It seems that, at some point near the end of February some sort of arrangement was reached between the teacher and the Director of Education, Curtis Ennis, for the teacher to continue to be employed by the school board, but no longer be on “active assignment.”

We should be celebrating. After all, PAFE led the charge last autumn, demanding that the teacher in question be “removed from the classroom,” immediately, as a “first step” in dealing with this issue.

The problem is, we have no indication whatsoever that the teacher has been “removed” – only that the teacher is, for the time being, no longer in the classroom. In other words, we have no idea whether or not some sort of “deal” or “arrangement” has made been in this case, and what the terms of such a deal might be, and for how long this situation might last.

We must conclude, then, that this current situation was not a “removal.” It was certainly not a result of any decision made by the elected school trustees. This is, as the board bureaucrats openly admit, being treated by the staff as a “personnel” matter with virtually no other details being disclosed to the public.

Indeed, the controversial teacher’s current absence from the classroom is shrouded in secrecy, so much so that even the elected trustees (or, at least, most of them) have no idea as to what is going on.

In any case, the news, welcome as it is, that Lemieux is no longer “in the classroom” comes in the middle of the board’s process of developing a “Professionalism Policy” which is still in its early stages.  This trustee-initiated process seems to have been a reaction by the elected trustees as a result of pressure from parents and others applied to the board in an effort to “do something” or at least give the appearance of “doing something.”

We are encouraging people in Halton Region to fill out the survey. If you have friends or relatives there, please direct them to our “PAFENTS GUIDE to the Halton Professionalism Policy Survey.” CLICK HERE to read the PARENTS GUIDE.