Six months after she took a leave of absence, Suanne Stein Day is resigning as chair of the Lester B. Pearson School Board.

Stein Day said she is resigning due to health reasons.

One year ago Stein Day acknowledged that the ethics commissioner had found she violated the board's code of ethics, but refused to admit she did anything wrong.

The board was unable to take any action against Stein Day.

In April she took a leave of absence.

“I’ve been on leave of absence for personal reasons,” she said, adding, “my situation hasn’t changed sufficiently for me to return to that full time.”

Since the spring, Noel Burke has been acting as chair, and he will continue in that role until a permanent replacement is chosen.

In August 2016 the school board's ethics commissioner determined that Stein Day had violated three separate articles of the board's code of ethics on multiple occasions.

The first letter of complaint about Stein Day was filed on Dec. 15, 2015, where 16 staff members accused her of making "slanderous and libelous remarks (that) range from criminal allegations in terms of misappropriation of funds and embezzlement to salacious claims of respected members participating in sexual affairs."

The letter also stated that Stein Day was "assassinating the characters of some of the most senior level members of the school board and pillars of the LBPSB community," and that she was spreading "gossip" and "lies" to "outsiders across the province with no offer of proof to back up her claims."

There were calls for her resignation, but she firmly refused to step down. The board was unable to take action against Stein Day.

Stein Day denies any wrongdoing.

“A couple of times I may have raised my voice with the director general, who is the only administrator who reports to me but I don’t have any regrets for that, because that whole situation allowed for the opening up of the investigation of the international department, which uncovered many, many wrongdoings and resulted in a lot more money going to the classrooms, to the students, instead of going into a couple of corrupt peoples’ pockets,” she said, adding that she has no regrets.

“I think I did the right thing and if I had to do it all over again I would do it the same way,” she said.

Stein Day was first elected as chair of the board in 2011, but has spent two decades with the school board in various capacities.

She said she will miss the job.

“I completely enjoyed it. It was wonderful being able to make a difference in small ways,” she said. “. It’s hard to stay away after 20 years of being so involved… but I know that the schools are in good hands. I know the children are in good hands.”

Editor's note: A previous version of this story said Stein Day admitted to breaching the code of ethics, however she denies any wrongdoing. The school board's ethics commissioner has ruled against her.