Ford’s office called the Toronto Catholic District School Board Wednesday to postpone the meeting with education director Bruce Rodrigues that is to be the final step in the board’s review of Ford’s coaching future.
The school board is examining a Sun interview in which Ford made disparaging comments about the school community that have been called inaccurate by the board, parent council members, teachers and even one of Ford’s assistant coaches. The mayor asserted that Don Bosco players come from “broken homes” and would be dead or in jail if not for football.
Some parents have called for Ford’s removal.
“We haven’t made any decision whatsoever,” board spokesman John Yan said Thursday. “We’re trying to meet with the mayor, because we have to have an opportunity as part of the process to discuss his comments.
“Part of that process is for Mr. Ford to provide us with either with an explanation or a commentary on what transpired on the March 1 interview.
“We’ve looked at the comments from the parent council, and teachers have provided input, so it’s only fair we hear from Mr. Ford as well.”
Asked Thursday about his brother’s future with the Don Bosco Eagles on Thursday, Councillor Doug Ford said only that, “Rob will continue to help needy kids across the city.”
The Star revealed Thursday that one of Ford’s political staffers emailed another high school, Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School, with an unsolicited proposal to start a football team with “up to $10,000” from Ford’s private football foundation. The city later confirmed that the number listed in the email belonged to a city-owned cellphone, reviving questions about Ford’s use of city personnel and resources for his private football activities.
The email prompted the board to send principals a note Wednesday instructing that all proposals from Ford must go through the board, not the individual school.
Ford has coached the Eagles for a decade, after the Toronto District School Board asked him to stop coaching at a school there following a dispute with a player.
Ford made the volunteer work a focus of his successful 2010 mayoral campaign and broke a promise that, if elected, he would quit coaching to devote himself full-time to the mayor’s job.
Since then Ford has been criticized for using taxpayer-funded staff and resources to work on his football endeavours, for skipping executive committee and council meetings to coach, and for a portrayal of the Bosco students that parents say is outdated, inaccurate and insulting.
Many Torontonians, however, admire the example he sets as a volunteer.
The parent council voted Tuesday behind closed doors to send the board a message that Ford is negatively affecting the school. The school has worked hard in recent years to improve its image and increase enrolment.
Yan could not say why Ford cancelled the meeting, but noted the mayor was busy meeting with Premier Kathleen Wynne late Thursday afternoon.
The get-together is expected to be held “soon,” he said. Ford’s fate as a coach will then lie in the hands of the education director.
“Once we meet with (Ford), Mr. Rodrigues ultimately has the authority to decide whether Mr. Ford continues on as coach,” Yan said.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: David Rider
No comments:
Post a Comment