Waterloo Region is in southwestern Ontario and consists of three large cities: Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, and four small townships: North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich. The region has a population of nearly 650,000 residents.
The Canadian Independent attended the Waterloo Region District School Board’s latest meeting in search of answers. The meeting was centered around a "policy," which was abruptly posted on the door to the main board meeting room back in December 2023, and has left individuals trying to seek answers for months.
The “policy” restricts access to the main in-person school board meeting room to only 30 people, despite its capacity being around 300 people. Additionally, the building has an "overflow room" that can accommodate approximately 100 people, but even this room had its doors locked, and parents were denied entry.
We observed dozens of concerned parents, grandparents, and residents attempting to enter the building, with some being denied entry by security citing the capacity "policy" that nobody in the entire building could explain.
David Todor, a resident in the Waterloo region, highlighted during his delegation that there are approximately 65,000 school-aged children in the region. Using simple math, one can estimate that there are roughly 130,000 parents in the region. Therefore, imposing a capacity limit of 30 people seems rather absurd.
When asked about the policy, one of the security guards, who appeared to have reservations about the board's policies, admitted to enforcing it but mentioned his lack of understanding regarding its implementation.
Delegates who spoke at the meeting also did not receive any explanation for the small capacity limit or the closure of the "overflow room." Various individuals expressed confusion about the restrictive policy, and the Board declined to provide any clarification.
We had two journalists at the school board meeting: one inside the board meeting and one observing the main entrance and hallways throughout the meeting. One notable observation was that an employee came and locked the main entrance door of the building 15 minutes after the board meeting started, which seemed rather odd.
Another journalist who we had inside the board meeting was told by a security guard that she was not allowed to record the meeting. It was clear they were annoyed that we were present.
School Board Trustee Cindy Watson, who opposes the capacity restriction, attempted to put forth a motion to reopen the "overflow room" at the meeting.
Her motion referenced the school board’s own policy established back in 1998, which states, “It is the policy of the Waterloo Region District School Board to encourage engagement at public meetings in order to facilitate communication between itself and its constituents.” However, the majority of trustees did not agree with Watson, and the motion was defeated by a vote of 8 to 2.
WATCH: The Waterloo Region District School Board has implemented a “policy” restricting parents from attending in-person school board meetings