Local school boards on the hook for nearly $300K due to unaligned PA days

Two school boards in Waterloo Region say they’re paying up for transportation after their PA days didn’t line up. CTV’s Jeff Pickel has more.

A report being discussed by the board of trustees at the public and Catholic school boards in Waterloo, Ont., is outlining the cost when the two local school boards’ PA (professional activity) days don’t line up.

According to a report on the agenda for the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), the two boards try to align PA days when possible.

“The School Year Calendar Committee continues to make every effort to align our school year calendar between panels (elementary/ secondary) and with that of the WCDSB (Waterloo Catholic District School Board),” says the board report.

It continues to say, “However, the proposal for the 2026-2027 school year results in two (2) unaligned days and this represents an additional cost to the Board in terms of providing student transportation.”

The report says the total cost of this unalignment is $286,668 and is to be shared between the boards. The public board is expected to pay $189,756, leaving $96,912 for the Catholic board.

“We’ve really worked closely in the last five years together to try and build that trust, and ensure that we’re sharing drafts well, and lots of conversations going on,” said WCDSB’s superintendent of learning, Jennifer Ritsma, during Tuesday’s board meeting.

The school boards say due to a contract agreement with Student Transportation Services, any additional days of transportation services require an added expense.

According to a statement from the WCDSB, the inability to align schedules is due in part to exam schedules.

“WCDSB schedules five examination days at the end of each semester, while WRDSB schedules four examination days and one midterm assessment day,” reads the statement from WCDSB. “These structural differences may influence how each board positions PD (professional development) days throughout the calendar year.”

Meanwhile, a statement from the WRDSB says there are multiple factors that go into this misalignment.

“During the consultation process, there may be identified needs for specific dates to be designated as professional development days (i.e. based on organizational needs, employee federations, associations, administrators and community requests and creed accommodation dates),” says a statement shared by Scott Miller, WRDSB director of education.

During Tuesday’s meeting, WCDSB trustees approved the 2026-2027 calendar as presented.

Both boards are required to submit their proposed schedules to the Ontario Ministry of Education for approval by March 1.