Flags in local schools were flown at half-mast when news broke. Howard Kaplan will be remembered as an activist in the local community that cared deeply about public education and issues of equity. He was first elected TDSB Trustee in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. He fought for early childhood education programs, equity in education and was a very active member in the community.
Howard became ill recently and was waiting for a liver transplant.
He wrote on Facebook in November:“I've been diagnosed with an auto-immune condition: IgG4-related sclerosing cholangitis. Look it up, it's too complicated to explain it here. What it means is that I will eventually need a new liver. I am currently undergoing a battery of tests to see if I am a suitable candidate for a transplant: I have to be healthy enough -- good heart, lungs, kidneys, etc; and I have to be sick enough -- my liver has to be really bad. Accordingly, my energy level fluctuates day-by-day. I don't know from one day to the next how much work I can do. It will get worse as time goes on until I get a new liver... if I'm a suitable candidate. As far as my work as a Trustee goes, I'm doing what I can, when I can. Staff are aware of my condition, and are taking on some of my constituency work.”
On behalf of The Downsview Advocate we send his family our deepest condolences during this difficult time -he was a great man that did very good things for this community.