[URBAN NOTE] "Don Bosco parents discuss if they want Ford to continue coaching football"

[rfmcdonald]

The report, carried by Metro Toronto and composed by the Torstar News Service, that Toronto mayor Rob Ford might be removed from his position as coach of Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School's Don Bosco Eagles football team, could be personally quite devastating to the mayor. (It's been noted in the past that he spends almost as much time as football coach as he does being mayor, see here and here.)

It's also unsurprising: both the Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun have carried reports that parents and staff at Don Bosco are upset with Ford's portrayal of students at the school as being one football team away from becoming juvenile delinquents. The media spotlight put on the school, likewise, is apparently unappreciated by many.

He has a history of sometimes characterizing the school in an unflattering light and his actions often put students and staff under a harsh glare.

So parents from Don Bosco Catholic Secondary — the Etobicoke school some parents says is too-often described as “Rob Ford’s” — met Tuesday night to discuss whether the costs outweigh the benefits of having the high-profile mayor as their football coach.

[. . .]

The TCDSB launched an investigation earlier this month into statements Ford made about the school during an interview with Sun News — including that some students would have “no reason to go to school” if not for football.

“You can’t tell them to get an education. But I use the football as a carrot,” he said.

Following the broadcast, a “significant” number of teachers signed an anonymous letter sent to senior board officials — saying Ford’s comments were “disgusting” and depicted the school in a “demeaning way that was filled with untruths” — prompting the board’s investigation.

[. . .]

While [Teresa Bridport, vice-chair of the school’s parent council] acknowledged that may be cause for concern at Tuesday’s meeting, the problems with Ford stem back to the previous football season, she said.

“Just the chaos it created in our school to have the mayor as our coach, how disruptive it was, for the administration, staff, for the teachers, for the students, just because he’s such a high profile person now — it certainly puts our school under a microscope.”