Angela Mancini resigns as EMSB chair following damning report
Report made public last month recommended Mancini be barred from future elections
Angela Mancini, a controversial figure who presided over the English Montreal School Board for more than a decade, has stepped down as chair, weeks after a report recommended she be barred from running in future elections.
Mancini made the announcement in a Facebook post early Tuesday.
"I leave the EMSB wishing it well. I hope that the people who will continue to serve the EMSB will do so with integrity, compassion, and passion," she wrote.
"I find myself making a decision that will help me regain my inner peace. More importantly, a decision that will allow my family to regain their mom and their daughter."
Mancini was elected as an EMSB commissioner in 1998 and became chair 10 years later. Her resignation is effective immediately.
Investigation finds irregularities in awarding of contracts
The EMSB has been under trusteeship since November after a 10-month government probe found irregularities in awarding of contracts and issues with the board's management and human resources, as well as the "excessive politicization of decision-making."
Marlene Jennings, a retired MP who took over as the EMSB's trustee, commissioned an investigation to look into harassment complaints made by Mancini.
That report, portions of which were obtained by CBC News, found that Mancini was intolerant of any opinions that differed from her own and blamed others "for her own causal wrongdoings."
It recommended that the Quebec government declare her and all of her supporters ineligible for office.
Mancini's resignation comes only months before the EMSB will be turned into a service centre, along with other English school boards, under a law adopted earlier this year by the Coalition Avenir Québec government.
In a statement, Jennings said vice-chair Joe Ortona will take over for Mancini until the fall service centre elections.
"Angela Mancini devoted more than two decades of her life to the public education system," said Jennings.
"We thank her for her service and wish her the very best in the future."