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Newsstand: Tuesday, November 17, 2015
In the news: TDSB director of education to leave post, a city-wide diversion program aims to deter teens from reoffending, and teen charged in the murder of a York Region Police officer will not face jail time.
In a surprise announcement, embattled TDSB director Donna Quan will leave her post, ending a controversial term as the Board’s director of education. In a statement made by TDSB chair Robin Pilkey, Quan will leave the Board December 14–18 months early—to take up a new position with a joint venture between the Ministry of Education and York University. Quan said in a statement, “My time at the TDSB has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” adding, “Ontario is recognized as one of the best education systems in the world and our Toronto students are achieving and are among the strongest.” Controversy surrounding Quan grew last year when she refused to make the terms of her contract with the Board public, and when she delayed giving back $17,000 of her $289,000 salary as part of a province-wide salary freeze. An interim replacement will be appointed next month.
Plans to implement a city-wide diversion program will give young offenders a second chance. Toronto Police Inspector David Saunders and Detective Stella Karras are working to implement the diversion program, which aims at providing alternatives to custody for teens who have committed minor crimes, following the success of the 2002 pilot project. Over the period of 20 months, less than 4 per cent of the 1,500 who participated reoffended. Saunders said in a statement, “Youth got a second chance; they weren’t criminalized,” adding, “A lot of people aren’t looking for their pound of flesh by sending people to court. What they really want is for young people to learn. They want them to be remorseful and to understand: don’t do it again.” Police Chief Mark Saunders hopes to implement the program across the city.
The teen who was charged with first-degree murder in the death of a York Regional Police constable will not face jail time. The teen, known only as S.K. and who cannot be named, was driving an unlicensed van full of teenagers the morning of June 28, 2011 when he was pulled over by Constable Garrett Styles during a routine traffic stop. Styles was dragged and crushed by the van when S.K. fled the scene and lost control of the vehicle, rendering the teen a quadriplegic. S.K. will serve a nine-year conditional supervision sentence.