WRDSB to hear concerns of parents, trustees at odds over transparency

It’s been nearly four months since the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) decided to part ways with former Director of Education jeewan chanicka, but the public is no closer to finding out why that decision was made.

Partially in response to public cries for clarity and transparency, at a committee of the whole meeting on Monday, the WRDSB decided to undertake a consultation process to gather “input regarding the educational needs” of students and to decide whether their strategic direction should be revised.

However, trustees were at odds over the process of consulting with the public, with a minority of trustees preferring a traditional town hall public meeting to address the concerns of parents.

“I’ve never seen so much unrest in this public system,” said Trustee Cindy Watson.

Trustee Mike Ramsey is also in favour of a town hall approach, and doesn’t believe the consultation process is going to “pass the smell test” with the public. The consultation approach doesn’t rule out a town hall meeting, but it doesn’t specifically plan one either.

In her motion to hold a town hall meeting, Watson explained that some parents believe their children are being “indoctrinated with identity politics and ideologies,” and have further threatened to remove their children from the board’s schools.

Trustee Scott Piatkowski rebutted those claims of indoctrination, explaining that topics like 2SLGBTQ+ rights are not an ideology, they are the law under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Ramsey added that he’s heard concerns over the handling of discussions regarding islamophobia and antisemitism in WRDSB schools, explaining that space was given to address one and not the other.

Trustee Kathleen Woodcock called a point of order after Ramsey’s comments, explaining that the conversation was beginning to discuss confidential matters.

For legal reasons, the board is unable to discuss the reasoning behind chanicka’s sudden departure.

“We would never be able to share personnel matters, so that information won’t be shared,” said the current director of education, Scott Miller, about chanicka’s departure in an interview with 570 NewsRadio.

The board will begin consulting with the public this spring, and will receive the results of the process at the beginning of 2026.