Toronto school board trustee faces criminal charges

Share

Editor's Note: All charges against Howard Goodman were dropped by the Crown on June 10, 2015. More information here

A Toronto District School Board trustee has been charged with forcible confinement and criminal harassment relating to incidents involving the school board's top ranking official.

The charges against veteran trustee Howard Goodman concern allegations made over the past year, police spokesman Victor Kwong said. Police say Mr. Goodman, 63, allegedly harassed a person through that period, and on one occasion, allegedly confined the same person.

Sources told The Globe and Mail that the alleged victim is director of education Donna Quan.

Ms. Quan declined comment Wednesday. "She won't be commenting as the matter is before the courts," school board spokeswoman Shari Schwartz-Maltz said in an e-mail.

Mr. Goodman has often clashed with Ms. Quan and some trustees as he questioned the integrity of staff members and pushed for more stringent rules governing conflicts of interest. Just last month, Mr. Goodman wrote to Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals, asking her to give members of the TDSB's audit committee the go-ahead to speak to auditors, who found that accountability has been circumvented at the school board.

The charges against Mr. Goodman are the latest in a string of controversies that have plagued Canada's largest school board, where trustees have been deeply divided and infighting has taken centre stage. The school board has struggled with spending scandals, financial mismanagement and questions over Ms. Quan's leadership.

This is the second time that a trustee who has pushed for more transparency has found themselves in hot water. Trustee Elizabeth Moyer was censured by the board earlier this year after an outside investigator accused her of sexually harassing two senior staff members. The year prior, Ms. Moyer had gone to the Ministry of Education requesting an investigation into the board's procedures.

Police arrested Mr. Goodman at his home early Wednesday morning. He has since been released. Mr. Goodman did not seek re-election in last month's municipal vote.

William ‎Trudell, a lawyer representing Mr. Goodman, said in a statement Wednesday night that his client is innocent and will vigorously defend himself against the charges.

"He has a great deal of respect for the criminal justice system  ‎and regrets that it is being misused for political purposes," Mr. Trudell said.

Police would not elaborate on what the alleged incidents involved.

A spokesman for Ms. Sandals said it would be inappropriate to comment on a police matter.

School board sources told The Globe that in an incident during the beginning of the year, Mr. Goodman allegedly blocked Ms. Quan from leaving a room at the board office.

In a more public incident in late February, Mr. Goodman confronted Ms. Quan over unpaid fees to the Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OPSBA), an umbrella organization that represents trustees across the province. The school board, Mr. Goodman said at the time, had directed staff to pay the outstanding fees of about $382,000. Staff failed to do so, despite phone calls and e-mails from OPSBA.

Mr. Goodman sent an e-mail to Ms. Quan after the incident, saying that his behaviour after the meeting did not go beyond passionate discourse common in political arenas. "If you or any members of our staff did feel my behaviour on Wednesday evening to be in any way inappropriate, I apologize without reservation. It was not my intention to cause distress," he wrote.

The incident sparked a series of events, including Ms. Quan describing in a letter an "unacceptable" culture in which TDSB staff members were subjected to abusive, threatening and insulting comments by some elected trustees, and then-chair Chris Bolton making an unusual request of having a police officer present at a board meeting in March to keep staff and trustees safe.

Many trustees expressed shock Wednesday at the charges levelled against Mr. Goodman.

"I've seen him overwrought and passionate. But I've never seen him slam a door. I've never seen him swear. I've never felt that Howard was physically intimidating. But he does get passionate about education matters," said trustee Pamela Gough. "It's a very sad situation that it's come to this."

Mr. Goodman has served as trustee in the Eglinton-Lawrence area since 2003, succeeding Kathleen Wynne, now Ontario Premier, when she moved to provincial politics. A father of two children, he has previously worked in management consulting, software development and manufacturing.