Stein Day resigns from Pearson board

Suanne Stein Day, the former head of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, has resigned her post effective immediately.

Stein Day, whose six-year tenure became marred by turmoil within her administration, calls for her dismissal, and investigations of the board’s international education department, submitted her resignation on Monday in a letter to the board’s council of commissioners.

Stein Day had been on a personal leave of absence for medical reasons since April. In her letter, she said there has been no change in circumstances that would allow her to return. In an interview with the Montreal Gazette, she said her medical condition has improved, but not to the point her doctor felt she could return to work.

She had been active with the school board since 1999. In 2011, the council of commissioners elected her as chairperson. She was re-elected in 2014.

In 2016, her tenure was marked by controversy when she admitted she had been convicted of breaching the board’s code of ethics three times in one year. She refused calls for her resignation from some administrators, which were supported by a petition. On Tuesday, she told the Montreal Gazette the ethics charges were for micromanagement, which she said she still didn’t feel was warranted, and another was for disrespecting administrators.

“In the end, that disrespect resulted in the school board opening up an investigation into the international department, that resulted in saving lots and lots of money that will go into the classrooms,” she said. “So maybe I was, on a few occasions, a little bit disrespectful, but it was worth it in the end. I have no regrets.”