The director of the Toronto District School Board is leaving her post to join a research project run by the provincial government and York University, the board says.

In a statement released Monday, the board said director of education Donna Quan has accepted as a position as a senior advisor as part of a provincial initiative aimed at helping school boards gather demographic information about their students “to further inform understanding of student populations and school communities.”

“When this opportunity came my way and I had a chance to influence provincial directions, it was an opportunity that I wanted to pursue,” Quan told reporters on Monday. “It’s the right time for me personally and professionally.”

In a press release, TDSB Chair Robin Pilkey described Quan as “a passionate and committed advocate for public education for more than 30 years.”

“It has been a pleasure working with her and I wish her all the best as she moves to the next chapter of her career,” Pilkey said.

Quan, who began her education career as a teacher in 1983, shared similar sentiments about her time as board director.

“My time at the TDSB has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” Quan said in a statement. “Ontario is recognized as one of the best education systems in the world and our Toronto students are achieving and are among the strongest.”

But her two years as director of the TDSB were marked by controversy.

Quan faced mounting in January criticism when trustees voted in favour of her keeping her salary at $289,000 despite a public sector wage freeze announced by the province in 2013 and the fact the her predecessors had been paid $17,000 less.

It was later revealed that the TDSB was among at least 21 school boards across Ontario who had ignored the wage freeze and gave raises to their directors of education.

Ontario Education Minister Liz Sandals noted that the TDSB was violating the wage freeze.

Quan also came under fire at around the same time over the overall “culture of fear” at the TDSB described in a report released by education expert Margaret Wilson. The report also outlined several instances of board trustees interfering with hiring decisions.

In March, Sandals convened a panel of experts to look at ways of improving governance of the scandal-plagued school board, including whether to break up the board into smaller boards.

But Quan defended the school board’s achievements at a press conference on Monday, saying that, ultimately, the outcome of the last two years has been positive for students.

"We've reached a number of goals in terms of solar, our efforts in recycling, our programming, and our efforts to increase reading results as well as mathematics so our program directions are strong and our operational directions are strong.

“I’m very excited for the board to move forward in terms of continuing the years of actions.”

Quan, who has 18 months left on her contract with the TDSB, is set to begin in her new role on Dec. 14, but the board said she will remain in her current role until an interim director is appointed.

The board will search for a permanent director once it establishes the right “criteria” for the position, the statement said.