A group of local parents is demanding the Halton school board make the safety and well-being of students its priority by requiring teachers to act and dress professionally.
Bomb threats, protests and media attention have disrupted Oakville Trafalgar High School (OTHS) this fall after the school’s gender-transitioning shop teacher began coming to school wearing a long blonde wig and enormous prosthetic breasts with protruding nipples.
The controversy – and the school board’s unwillingness to listen to the concerns of students and parents – has led parents to band together and hire a local lawyer, said Celina Close, an OTHS parent and spokesperson for the newly-founded Students First Ontario.
About 150 people – mostly parents with students at the high school – came out to a community meeting the group organized last week, she said.
Along with frustration with the lack of open communication about the issue, parents spoke of the fear and anxiety that repeated bomb threats and searches of the high school have created for their families.
“This issue has really escalated. It’s not been a very stable environment or one that is conducive to learning,” Close said. “As a group, we have exhausted the avenues of communication with the school and the school board, so we’ve retained a lawyer and are moving forward with both legal and, I would say, political action.”
The goal is to pressure the school board to address appropriate attire for teachers through a dress code. As a minimum, she said, the group wants staff to be required to abide by the same dress code parameters applied to students.
“We see a disparity between the expectations for the children and for the teachers,” said Close.
A Halton school board dress code policy says students must not wear clothing that displays vulgarity or exposes or makes visible genitals or nipples.
Last month, school board officials recommended against adopting a system-wide dress code for staff members, suggesting it could expose the board to “considerable liability” and spark human rights complaints.
A report received by trustees at their Nov. 9 meeting noted it was important to recognize the impact that dress code policies could have on members of the transgender community.
"Most notably, it is important for employers to make allowances to ensure that these employees are able to express themselves in accordance with their lived gender," it noted.
The board also said Ontario labour laws prohibit it from changing working conditions for employees while in the midst of contract bargaining. The collective agreement for teachers expired at the end of August, and a new deal has not yet been reached.
But prominent Ontario employment lawyer Howard Levitt has written that the board has the legal right to require professional attire of its employees and that recognizing gender identity does not mean the board has to allow vulgarity or sexualization.
“Let’s be clear: The Halton District School Board has the legal ability to insist that their teachers wear appropriate attire to school,” he wrote recently. “They should do that in the present case. Not to do so actually creates a precedent and legally opens the door for further abuses.”
The controversy led Ontario’s Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, to request that the Ontario College of Teachers review and consider strengthening its professional standards.
In response, the college sent a four-page letter to the Minister in mid-October, advising that it believes its standards “appropriately address professionalism in today’s modern learning environment.”
“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,” the letter says.
The college says its standards require teachers to conduct themselves professionally and demonstrate responsibility and sound judgment. It added that the school board has the power to set and enforce professional conduct through its employment policies.
Fundraising for possible legal action
Students First Ontario has launched a GoFundMe initiative aimed at raising $10,000 to pay for legal assistance. As of press time, more than $4,000 had been donated.
In a communication to interested parents, it notes, “The failure of OTHS & HDSB administrators to respond to our valid individual and group concerns is evident. The most likely pathway to enabling communication is via legal action.”
The group is urging concerned parents to visit its website, share stories of the impact the issue has had on their families and spread the word.
It’s also asking people to “be a positive voice” for the movement.
“Tell people what we are all about - placing the interests and well-being of students first. We fully support the LGBT+ community and the accommodation of gender expression - within reasonable boundaries.”
In response to the creation of the parent group, the Halton District School Board said, "We understand parents/guardians and members of the community have had questions regarding the attention Oakville Trafalgar High School has experienced. Our students and staff have the right to learn and work in a safe environment without fear and without infringement upon their human rights."