WCDSB releases statement after controversial trustee tweets cause stir at board meeting

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board and Trustee Wendy Ashby have released statements following an uproar at a board meeting, in connection with some tweets Ashby posted.

Those posts along with Ashby’s Twitter account have been taken down.

Monday night’s board meeting had Waterloo Regional Police called in to help restore order after some attending the meeting started to get disruptive.

It was all centred around the contents of the social media posts made by Trustee Wendy Ashby, with some claiming they violated the Board’s code of conduct.

The board notes not arrests were made, and the meeting resumed.

In it’s statement, the WCDSB says it does not support statements made by Trustee Wendy Ashby, adding it “remains committed to providing a quality, inclusive, faith-based education with a goal of providing all students the opportunity to succeed and belong…but we will not tolerate hate of any kind or disrespectful behaviour that is disruptive to public meetings.”

Ashby has also released a statement saying she is sorry her tweets offended those individuals, and hopes her “comments and advocacy” will not be taken out of context in the future.

“Conversations about inequality are often uncomfortable. As a Métis woman and in my professional role, I encounter these discussions regularly and part of these discussions is to challenge our existing systems. A great deal of my education and advocacy work is around understanding and furthering diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Both statements can be read in their entirety by clicking here.

CityNews Kitchener has reached out to the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and Trustee Wendy Ashby for comment.