Principal at Orléans high school leaving this week

By CityNews Ottawa

Weeks after a dress code blitz left many students feeling degraded and humiliated, the principal at an Orléans Catholic school is leaving this week. 

In a letter sent to parents and guardians of Béatrice-Desloges Catholic High School on May 25, the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE) said that Marie-Claude Veilleux, who spent the past three years as principal at the east end high school, will no longer be principal. 

There was no mention in the letter of the dress code blitz that took place on May 12.  As of May 30, Veilleux will serve as the director of Learning Support Services with the board. In the letter, CECCE superintendent of education Jason Dupuis thanked Veilleux for her service to the school. 

“The school has improved its offer of services, in particular by updating its artistic concentration, now well known under the name of the Academy of Arts of Béatrice-Desloges,” the letter stated. ” Mrs Veilleux also greatly contributed to the implementation of a common vision with the members of the staff focused on student success.”

Sébastien Pharand has been appointed as principal of Béatrice-Desloges as of May 30.  Pharand has worked with the CECCE since 2004, and is currently the vice-principal at Garneau Catholic Secondary School.

“It is a homecoming for this professional who worked at the school Béatrice-Desloges for more than 15 years as an arts teacher,” the letter said. “Thanks to his leadership and his skills in the field of the arts, he will most certainly be able to contribute to the development of the Academy of Arts of this school.”

Staff and teachers, mostly male, at École Secondaire Catholique Béatrice-Desloges conducted a one day dress code blitz earlier this month where students were told to bend over and touch their toes while staff members measured the length from their knees to the hem of their shorts. 

Approximately 50-60 students were sent to the office, most of them female. Some students said they felt humiliated by what happened. 

On Friday, May 13, students walked out in protest because of what happened one day earlier and in a Twitter thread, Ottawa police said they were called to the school around 11:30 a.m. after receiving information that students were outside the premises protesting.

Officers arrived on scene and helped school personnel. Police said they attempted to de-escalate a situation with one youth who was not a student at the school and was identified as trespassing. That individual, police added, was arrested at the scene for causing a disturbance and trespassing and was escorted off school property.

He was released without charges. No other charges were laid or tickets were issued during the protest.

Board officials have since apologized for the incident, calling it unacceptable. 

 

 

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