The Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) has spent more than $83,600 for costs related to a debate and trustee motion that would have banned most flags, including the Pride flag, from being flown outside its schools. The details were included in a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed by former trustee Wendy Ashby, who shared the document with CTV News. The tally covers a three-month period in 2025. The flag debate brought demonstrators, counter-protesters and media from outside Waterloo Region to multiple board meetings. During the course of the debate, questions were raised and legal advice was obtained about whether trustees should even vote on the flag motion or if the matter was outside their purview, given it was a staff decision to start flying the Pride flag in 2021. The FOI request asked for the total financial cost to WCDSB including risk assessment, security and additional costs incurred between March 1, 2025 and May 30, 2025. A total of $83,655.43 was spent during that time, the response revealed. The largest cost was for security at various board meetings: $59,531.54. Nearly $50,000 of that was for security at two board meetings held on April 14 and April 28, the day the motion was voted on. The board confirmed that an additional $2,622.19 was paid to the Waterloo Regional Police Service for its support during the same two April meetings. Another $18,489.63 was spent on legal counsel during the three-month time period. Other costs were related to equipment rentals, including $4,544.86 for a gate and fence that was billed in April 2025. In the end, the motion to ban most flags was voted down by a narrow margin, 5 to 4, with trustees Renée Kraft, Tracey Weiler, Kathy Doherty-Masters, David Guerin and Robert Sikora opposed, and trustees Conrad Stanley, Marisa Phillips, Winston Francis and Linda Cuff in favour. Data from Freedom of Information Request Table 1 – Financial Costs to WCDSB 2025-03-01 to 2025-05-30 re: Pride Flag *CTV reached out to WCDSB for clarification on this item and was told the $49,120 invoice was for security costs for the meetings held on April 14th and April 28th. **CTV requested WCDSB provide clarification on this item and was told the $2622 invoice was for charges levied by Waterloo Region Police Service in support of the meetings held on April 14th and 28th. Board statement In a statement to CTV News, WCDSB’s Senior Manager of Communications Lema Salaymeh said, “The safety of everyone attending our board meetings is our first responsibility. Following an increase in public interest in some board meetings, including rally activity outside the building and disruptions during meetings, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) made the decision to engage a professional security firm.” “Security is in place to protect members of the public, minimize the potential for conflict between groups with opposing views, manage orderly entry and sign-in, and keep people off Weber Street West where possible for traffic and pedestrian safety,” the statement continued. “When the Downtown Community Centre served as a public voting station on April 28, 2025, security also helped ensure voters had uninterrupted access throughout. Security also supports the safety of trustees, staff and all attendees, and helps meetings run smoothly regardless of activity inside or outside the building.” “Board meetings are an important space for our community to engage with Catholic education, and the WCDSB is committed to making sure everyone who attends, participates or shares their views can do so safely and respectfully,” the statement said. Estimate of staffing costs The board’s FOI response also tried to quantify how much staff time was spent on the Pride flag matter and related code of conduct investigations during a three-year period, between 2023 and 2026. The explanation noted a specific number could not be provided, “as internal time tracking does not distinguish or log staff time spent on specific issues,” but it did try to come up with an estimate of the cost to be board, using 2024 salaries as an average. That total came to $131,161.00. The response from WCDSB noted that did not include days of lost productivity when the Catholic Education Centre had to close early. The staff cost estimate suggested the board’s former director of education, Tyrone Dowling, spent about 60 days in total addressing these matters over that three-year period. Dowling retired in September 2025.
