Director of education for TVDSB on leave of absence

Thames Valley District School Board Director of Education Mark Fisher speaks in London, Ont. on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (Sean Irvine / CTV News)

The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) has announced that Director of Education Mark Fisher is on a leave of absence.

The Board of Trustees will meet Monday to appoint an acting director of education while the Board conducts a broader search for an interim director of education.

According to TVDSB, day to day school board operations will continue as planned and this will not impact classrooms.

“The Board is committed to ensuring that staff, students, and families are supported during this time and we thank them for their patience,” said TVDSB Chairperson Beth Mai.

No further details are available at this time.

Fisher was recently under the microscope after 18 senior executives spent two nights at the Marriott Hotel at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto for what was called strategic planning sessions.

At the time, Fisher said, "We do recognize that in the modern fiscal reality, this is something probably we need to take a harder look at in the future and perhaps do this much closer to home... It's best practice traditionally for senior teams, both in the public and private sector, to do strategic planning sessions... This helps us prepare for the school year, and is valuable for a senior leadership. We have 14,000 employees, 85,000 students and we need time to get together and plan and strategize."