Spence successfully appeals revocation of his teaching licence
Former TDSB head wins new hearing in dispute over his mental state
Chris Spence, the former education director of the Toronto District School Board who had his teaching licence revoked in 2016, has successfully appealed the matter on the grounds that his “precarious” mental state was not adequately accounted for, according to a Divisional Court decision on Wednesday obtained by the Star.
The linchpin of the Spence’s appeal is that the Ontario College of Teachers’ Discipline Committee didn’t “consider the totality of the medical evidence describing (Spence’s) mental health” when it did not grant a second hearing adjournment, a judge ruled.
Spence had been found guilty of professional misconduct and was stripped of his teaching licence because of plagiarism.
In a written statement to the Star, the Ontario College of Teachers said it “will complete a thorough and thoughtful review of the decision to determine an appropriate course of action, which could include a new hearing to consider the matter,” a spokesperson said.
Spence’s plagiarism scandal began with accusations he had borrowed passages for an opinion piece he wrote for the Star in January 2013. More accusations came, however, including claims that he had used other people’s work in his speeches and books, as well as his doctoral thesis.
Earlier this year, a University of Toronto appeals tribunal upheld an earlier decision to strip him of his PhD.
Regarding his teaching li- cence, the discipline committee’s orders between November 2016 and February 2017 have been “set aside” and the issue has been sent back to it for a new hearing, the Divisional Court decision says. Spence’s family doctor had provided a medical note to the committee in May 2016, ahead of a hearing, stating that he should not participate in proceedings and would partake in a psychiatric assessment. While the committee had agreed to the initial adjournment in 2016, a second one, sought later that year, was refused.
The 10-page report produced by psychiatrist Dr. Ahmed Je- haan Illyas described Spence’s symptoms, including depression and suicidal ideation, related to the evaporation of his marriage and career, which “significantly impacted his functioning.”
A day before the hearing commenced in October 2016, Spence, according to the decision, had written to the college that “(D)ue to my unstable mental health my doctor has advised me not to participate in any disciplinary proceedings … Thank you for your continued compassion.” The hearing reconvened without him or any representative, the decision states.