EMSB director general resigns, with return to class just weeks away

In the latest shakeup to the administration of the English Montreal School Board, director general Ann Marie Matheson has resigned.

Marlene Jennings, the board's trustee, announced Matheson's resignation on Monday.

"During her five years as director general, Ann Marie Matheson displayed exceptional leadership abilities during a period of turbulence for the board," Jennings said in a statement.

She praised Matheson for playing a "critical" role in maintaining the board's high student success rate, and for spearheading the creation of the Mackay Centre and Phillip E. Layton School in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and the Des Grandes Prairies Vocational Centre in Saint-Léonard.

"I wish the very best to this great EMSB family on the road ahead, with particular well-wishes for our students and school teams, both of whom will always hold a dear place in my heart," Matheson said in a statement.

Evelyne Alfonsi, who currently serves as an assistant director general, will hold the position on an interim basis when Matheson leaves her post on Thursday.

The resignation comes as schools prepare for the start of the fall term with new guidelines to reduce the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, and a court challenge to the government's law that will convert the province's school boards into service centres.

Last month, board Chair Angela Mancini announced she was stepping down after a damning report recommended she be barred from running in future elections.

The EMSB has been under trusteeship since November, when a 10-month probe found irregularities in awarding of contracts and issues with the board's management and human resources.

A statement from the EMSB says the board will hire an outside agency in the coming days to find a pool of candidates to replace Matheson.