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Video · Endorsement · Together in Education Waterloo

Working conditions are learning conditions.

Together in Education Waterloo, a coalition of the region’s education union locals, recommended me for public school trustee in Waterloo and Wilmot. I’m grateful. Here is what their members see in our schools every day, and the numbers behind it.

Read the written version What I’d do as trustee

Brian Best · Posted October 8, 2026 · 1:36 · Instagram · TikTok

The written version

Thank you, TIE.

Brian Best · October 2026

Thank you to Together in Education Waterloo for recommending me for public school trustee in Waterloo and Wilmot. TIE is a coalition of education union locals representing more than 10,000 workers in our region’s schools: teachers, occasional teachers, early childhood educators, educational assistants, support staff, custodians and student services professionals.[1][2]

Their working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. The people in the building see a problem first. They know when a class has one adult where it needs two, when a repair has waited another year, and when a portable has quietly become permanent. When I say I stand with education workers, that is what I mean: when staff have what they need, every student gets the attention they deserve.

In 2024–25 our board had 106 students for every educational assistant, the third-highest of Ontario’s 72 school boards. Across Ontario it was 73. Count teachers, early childhood educators and educational assistants together and we were still third.[3]

For 2026–27 the board budgeted $110.9M for special education. The province’s Special Education Fund provides $106.2M, so the board is spending $4.7M more than the fund covers.[4] To balance its overall budget that year, it is also drawing $4.0M of special education funding deferred from earlier years.[4] More than 12,000 of our students receive some form of special education assistance each year.[7]

Since 2019 the board has asked the province 23 times for a new school, an addition or a rebuild. Four of those requests were funded.[8–17] The Waterloo-Oxford addition in Wilmot was on three of those lists and is still waiting.[18] Winston Churchill Public School in Waterloo opened in 1965 and had 320 students for 216 permanent places in 2024–25, with 2,823 homes approved nearby on Albert Street.[19][20][21]

We are fortunate to still elect our school trustees. In August 2025, CBC News reported that the education minister was open to eliminating them.[22] As of the province’s May 29, 2026 update, eight of Ontario’s 72 boards were under provincial supervision.[23] That voice is worth protecting. I’ll use mine at the board table to press Queen’s Park for the funding our students deserve.

The same government cut OSAP grants for college and university students this year, citing “unsustainable” costs. Documents later showed that 95% of a $465 million increase in OSAP grants in 2024–25 had gone to students at private career colleges.[24][25] That is post-secondary policy, not a school board decision. But it shows how Queen’s Park treats education funding, and why our board has to make its case loudly.

The children in our classrooms today will help shape Canada 30 years from now. Give them the best education we can, and give the people who teach and support them what they need to do it. We have to plant those trees today.

Our best. For every student.

Who TIE is

More than 10,000 education workers.

In its own words, TIE is “a coalition of education worker affiliates from across Waterloo Region, representing more than 10,000 workers across French and English public and Catholic education systems in our region.”[1]

Nine locals, two boards.

The member locals shown on TIE’s 2026 recommendation graphic, by the board their members work for.[1][2]

Public board · WRDSB

  • ETFO Waterloo RegionElementary teachers
  • ETFO WROT LocalElementary occasional teachers
  • ETFO DECE Waterloo RegionDesignated early childhood educators
  • OSSTF District 24Secondary teachers, occasional teachers, custodial and maintenance staff, support staff, student support professionals and supervision monitors. Also adult educators at the Catholic board.
  • Educational Assistants AssociationEducational assistants

Catholic board · WCDSB

  • OECTA Waterloo Catholic TeachersTeachers
  • CUPE 2512Support staff
  • APSSP, Waterloo Catholic chapterStudent services professionals
  • Unifor Local 302Members at the Catholic board

TIE’s own description also covers the French-language boards; no French-language local appears on the Waterloo/Wilmot graphic. Only some locals publish a member count, so the counts are not added up here.

“Together In Education Waterloo recommends: Kathleen Woodcock, Brian Best, Karen Coviello.”

That is the full recommendation for the three WRDSB trustee seats in Waterloo and Wilmot.[1] TIE made recommendations in other wards and for the Catholic board too. TIE speaks for its member locals. It does not speak for either school board, and I do not speak for TIE.

Staffing

106 students for every EA.

Educational assistants work alongside teachers, often with students who have special education needs. For its size, our board had fewer of them in 2024–25 than all but two of Ontario’s 72 school boards.[3]

Students for every educational assistant, 2024–25

All 72 Ontario school boards, ranked. Waterloo Region DSB is third, at 105.8. The middle board has 58.1.[3]

Students are average daily enrolment. Staff are full-time equivalents on October 31, 2024. “Ontario overall” pools all 72 boards: 72.6 students per EA. Counting classroom teachers, early childhood educators and EAs together, WRDSB has 13.3 students per educator against 12.5 for Ontario, also third-highest. Counting classroom teachers alone, it is 27th, with 16.5. Hover a column for its board.[3]

Show this chart as a table
Students for every educational assistant, all 72 Ontario school boards, 2024–25
RankBoardStudents (ADE)EA (FTE)Students per EA
1Toronto DSB237,5711792.5132.5
2Dufferin-Peel Catholic DSB70,497652.0108.1
3Waterloo Region DSB64,474609.2105.8
4Toronto Catholic DSB86,859906.295.8
5York Catholic DSB49,202528.193.2
6Thames Valley DSB82,888917.390.4
7Ottawa-Carleton DSB76,409873.587.5
8DSB of Niagara42,890495.586.6
9York Region DSB129,7031535.684.5
10Durham DSB79,850946.584.4
11CEP de l'Est de l'Ontario18,166218.583.1
12Halton DSB66,147885.774.7
13Halton Catholic DSB36,445489.974.4
14Grand Erie DSB28,224381.074.1
15Trillium Lakelands DSB17,596249.470.6
16CSD cath. Centre-Est de l'Ont.28,482403.970.5
17Niagara Catholic DSB22,442319.070.4
18Ottawa Catholic DSB50,641721.470.2
19Upper Grand DSB35,307510.069.2
20Waterloo Catholic DSB27,991408.068.6
21Simcoe County DSB56,936831.368.5
22Durham Catholic DSB23,199340.068.2
23Lambton Kent DSB21,890322.867.8
24Hamilton-Wentworth DSB51,972777.566.8
25Windsor-Essex Catholic DSB23,023348.466.1
26Rainbow DSB14,174216.065.6
27Greater Essex County DSB35,880549.565.3
28Brant Haldimand Norfolk CDSB12,619195.064.7
29Limestone DSB20,445316.564.6
30Peel DSB145,9682278.964.1
31Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB35,700567.462.9
32London Dist. Catholic School27,140449.560.4
33Upper Canada DSB27,961464.260.2
34Cath DSB of Eastern Ontario13,787229.860.0
35Wellington Catholic DSB8,870149.059.5
36Hastings & Prince Edward DSB15,360258.459.4
37Simcoe Muskoka Catholic DSB24,772436.056.8
38CSC MonAvenir15,707276.856.7
39Sudbury Catholic DSB6,908122.056.6
40Near North DSB9,814175.056.1
41Conseil scolaire Viamonde13,430243.855.1
42Bluewater DSB18,596338.455.0
43Hamilton-Wentworth Cath DSB30,796583.052.8
44CSD cath. de l'Est ontarien11,053209.552.8
45Bruce-Grey Catholic DSB5,05496.052.6
46Algonquin & Lakeshore Cath DSB12,263235.552.1
47PVNC Catholic DSB15,248297.051.3
48Algoma DSB10,568207.850.9
49St. Clair Catholic DSB9,207182.350.5
50Huron-Perth Catholic DSB4,56293.049.0
51Renfrew County DSB9,224197.046.8
52CSD cath. du Nouvel-Ontario5,503119.046.2
53Avon Maitland DSB15,353337.045.6
54Thunder Bay Catholic DSB6,781154.044.0
55Lakehead DSB9,075222.540.8
56Renfrew County Catholic DSB4,883123.039.7
57CSC Providence9,145239.038.3
58Nipissing-Parry Sound Cath DSB3,22185.537.7
59CSP du Grand Nord de l'Ontario2,57470.836.4
60Keewatin-Patricia DSB4,716131.036.0
61Northeastern Catholic DSB2,29865.235.2
62CSD catholique Franco-Nord2,52674.533.9
63CSD cath. des Grandes Rivières5,247171.630.6
64CSP du Nord-Est de l'Ontario1,97865.130.4
65Northwest Catholic DSB1,17044.726.2
66Rainy River DSB2,35195.324.7
67CSD cath. des Aurores boréales81235.522.9
68DSB Ontario North East7,161328.721.8
69Kenora Catholic DSB1,23557.621.4
70Huron-Superior Catholic DSB4,614220.021.0
71Superior-Greenstone DSB1,32180.016.5
72Superior North Catholic DSB70846.015.4

Why this reaches every student. An educational assistant is often the second adult in the room. When that adult is there, the teacher can teach the whole class and the student who needs more help gets it. When they are not, the teacher does both jobs at once, in front of everybody.

More than 12,000 WRDSB students receive some form of special education assistance each year.[7]

Who sees it first

The people in the building see it first.

Teachers, educational assistants, early childhood educators, custodians and office staff are the first to know when a school is short of hands or short of space. They see it long before it shows up in a report.

The province sets the funding formula and pays for new schools and additions. The board decides how to spend what it receives, and trustees vote on that budget.

What a trustee can do is ask for the facts in public, vote on where the money goes and make the case to Queen’s Park. That works best when trustees listen to the people who see the problem first.

Special education

$4.7M above the fund.

The province gives each board a Special Education Fund. Our board budgets to spend more than that on special education. In 2026–27 it is drawing special education money deferred from earlier years, along with the rest of its budget, to balance.[4]

Special education: the provincial fund and the board’s budget

WRDSB budgets, in millions of dollars. In 2026–27 the board budgeted $4.7M more for special education than the province’s fund provides.[4][6]

  • Covered by the provincial Special Education Fund
  • Budgeted above the fund
  1. 2025–26Board budget
    June 11, 2025    $107.4M fund$5.6M above the fund$113.1M budgeted[6]
  2. 2026–27Board budget
    June 10, 2026    $106.2M fund$4.7M above the fund$110.9M budgeted[4]

The fund falls by $1.27 million in 2026–27, the board’s estimate, mostly because of lower enrolment.[5] The board is also drawing $4.0M of special education funding deferred from earlier years.[4] These are budgets, set before each school year begins; year-end spending can differ.

Show this chart as a table
WRDSB special education: provincial fund and budgeted spending
Budget yearSpecial Education FundBudgeted spendingAbove the fund
2025–26$107,423,680$113,055,841$5,632,161
2026–27$106,150,497$110,850,832$4,700,335

In the board’s own words: “A reduction in special education funding will put pressure on the board’s budget as the demand for special education resources continues to increase.”[5]

School buildings

23 asked. 4 funded.

A board cannot pay for a new school or a major addition on its own. It applies to the province’s Capital Priorities program, and the Ministry of Education decides what is funded. Since 2019 our board has asked 23 times, for 13 projects.[8–12]

Every request since 2019, by funding round

Each tile is one project in one round, in the board’s order. Four were funded. North Cambridge has been asked for in every round.[8–12]

  • Funded
  • Not funded
  • In Waterloo or Wilmot

  1. 2019–20

    Submitted September 2019

    9 asked · 2 funded
    • Laurelwood PS additionWaterlooFunded 2020
    • North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
    • Parkway PS additionCambridgeNot funded
    • Doon South II PS (new), now Willow RiverKitchenerFunded 2020
    • Waterloo-Oxford DSS additionWilmotNot funded
    • John Mahood PS additionElmiraNot funded
    • Waterloo CI partnership rebuildWaterlooNot funded
    • Breslau-Hopewell Crossing PS (new)BreslauNot funded
    • Sunnyside PS rebuildKitchenerNot funded

  2. 2021–22

    Submitted May 2021

    4 asked · 1 funded
    • North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
    • Breslau-Hopewell Crossing PS (new)BreslauFunded Nov. 2021
    • Parkway PS additionCambridgeNot funded
    • Waterloo-Oxford DSS additionWilmotNot funded

  3. 2022–23

    Submitted February 2022

    5 asked · 0 funded
    • North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
    • Parkway PS additionCambridgeNot funded
    • Waterloo-Oxford DSS additionWilmotNot funded
    • Ayr PS additionAyrNot funded
    • Southwest Kitchener secondary (new)KitchenerNot funded

  4. 2023–24

    Submitted October 2023

    2 asked · 0 funded
    • North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
    • Parkway PS addition with child careCambridgeNot funded

  5. 2024–25

    Submitted September 2024

    3 asked · 1 funded
    • Huron Heights SS additionKitchenerNot funded
    • North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
    • Rosenberg II PS (new) with child careKitchenerFunded June 2026*

Outcomes come from the board’s later reports: two of the nine 2019 projects were approved,[13] Breslau-Hopewell Crossing was approved in November 2021 after the board asked again,[14] and none of the 2022 projects were approved.[15] *None of the three 2024 requests had been approved when the board reported on the round in September 2025.[16] The province announced $31.3 million for Rosenberg II on June 17, 2026, without saying which round the money came from.[17] Every unfunded project here except the Sunnyside rebuild is still on the board’s list of proposed projects as of September 28, 2026.[18]

Show this ledger as a table
WRDSB Capital Priorities requests, 2019–20 to 2024–25
RoundProjectPlaceOutcome
2019–20Laurelwood PS additionWaterlooFunded 2020
2019–20North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
2019–20Parkway PS additionCambridgeNot funded
2019–20Doon South II PS (new), now Willow RiverKitchenerFunded 2020
2019–20Waterloo-Oxford DSS additionWilmotNot funded
2019–20John Mahood PS additionElmiraNot funded
2019–20Waterloo CI partnership rebuildWaterlooNot funded
2019–20Breslau-Hopewell Crossing PS (new)BreslauNot funded
2019–20Sunnyside PS rebuildKitchenerNot funded
2021–22North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
2021–22Breslau-Hopewell Crossing PS (new)BreslauFunded Nov. 2021
2021–22Parkway PS additionCambridgeNot funded
2021–22Waterloo-Oxford DSS additionWilmotNot funded
2022–23North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
2022–23Parkway PS additionCambridgeNot funded
2022–23Waterloo-Oxford DSS additionWilmotNot funded
2022–23Ayr PS additionAyrNot funded
2022–23Southwest Kitchener secondary (new)KitchenerNot funded
2023–24North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
2023–24Parkway PS addition with child careCambridgeNot funded
2024–25Huron Heights SS additionKitchenerNot funded
2024–25North Cambridge PS (new)CambridgeNot funded
2024–25Rosenberg II PS (new) with child careKitchenerFunded June 2026

Not on any list

Neither Lexington nor Winston Churchill, both public schools in Waterloo, appears in any of these 23 requests. In each round from 2021 to 2024, board staff listed a Lexington rebuild as not meeting the criteria and did not send it.[9–12] Churchill opened in 1965 and had 320 students for 216 permanent places in 2024–25.[19][20]

Read the Lexington report and the Winston Churchill report.

Who decides

The board chooses which projects to put forward and makes the case for each one. The Ministry judges the business cases and decides what is funded. When the province says no, families should hear that plainly, from the board, with the reason attached.

What I’d do as trustee

Ask in public. Push Queen’s Park.

I’m Brian Best, and I’m running for public school trustee in Waterloo and Wilmot. Here is what I would do with one vote at the board table.

Put staffing on the record

I’d move that the board publish, before each budget vote, how many students it has for every educational assistant and every educator, beside the figures for Ontario.

Show the special education gap

I’d ask the board to report each year how far its special education spending runs past the provincial fund, and each quarter how many students are waiting for an assessment, and for how long.

Make the case for our buildings

I’d push for public decisions on the Waterloo and Wilmot projects our students need, including Churchill, Lexington and the Waterloo-Oxford addition,[18] and for the board to say plainly when Queen’s Park says no.

A trustee cannot set provincial funding, bargain contracts or hire staff. A trustee can move the motion, ask for the report, vote on the budget and press Queen’s Park. Those are the tools I would use.

Transcript

What I said in the video.

Lightly cleaned for reading. Elsewhere on this page a few lines are put more carefully. TIE calls itself a coalition.[1] Our board is third-highest in Ontario for students per educational assistant, not per teacher.[3] The Albert Street homes are approved, not under construction.[21] No renovation figure is given; I could not find a complete public record of school renovations. This page does not source the line about Waterloo Region’s contribution to the tax base.

Read the transcript 1:36

Hi, I’m Brian Best. Thank you to Together in Education, or the TIE group, for endorsing me for school board trustee in Waterloo and Wilmot. TIE brings together all the education unions that serve our publicly funded school boards. If you know anything about me, you know that I stand with these guys.

Educators’ working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. Our board has one of the worst educator-to-student ratios in Ontario. We need fewer students per educator, more special education funding, and the resources to give every child the attention that they deserve.

We are fortunate to still be able to elect local school board trustees. That voice is worth protecting, and I’ll be using mine at the board table to press the province into getting the funding that your kids deserve.

Our educators face extremely difficult conditions: schools built in the 1960s that haven’t received a renovation in almost 30 years, and overcrowding in classrooms, with condo buildings going up right next to them. Waterloo Region is one of Ontario’s greatest contributors to our overall tax base. Yet every time we go to Doug Ford and ask them to invest in our students, they almost always come back with no.

I’ll be pushing for the repairs, the additions, the new school our community needs. Doug Ford seems to think that our education system should be run as a business. Through our voices and our labour, we must remind him that the government is here to serve the people, not to turn a profit.

The children in our classrooms today will help shape Canada 30 years from now. Give them the best education in the world, and we give them the tools to build a brighter future for all of us. But we have to plant those trees today.

My name is Brian Best. I’m running for school board trustee in Waterloo and Wilmot, and I hope to see you voting.

Sources and method

Check my work.

  1. ETFO Waterloo Region, “2026 Municipal Elections”

    Together in Education’s description of itself and its recommendation graphic for Waterloo/Wilmot WRDSB trustees, with the logos of its nine member locals. Checked October 10, 2026.

  2. OSSTF District 24, “What is OSSTF D24”

    The district’s six bargaining units: secondary teachers and occasional teachers, custodial and maintenance, educational support staff, professional student support personnel and supervision monitors at WRDSB, and adult educators at the Waterloo Catholic board.

  3. Ontario Ministry of Education, school board financial statements, 2024-25

    Board-submitted EFIS file, all 72 district school boards. Educational assistant FTE as of October 31, 2024 (Appendix H, cell AP0H_00360C) and average daily enrolment (Schedule 13, cell SC13_00167C). Ratios recalculated October 10, 2026.

  4. WRDSB 2026-27 Budget Presentation, June 10, 2026

    Page 38, Core Education Funding and expense: Special Education Fund $106,150,497 against $110,850,832 of spending, and $4,000,000 of deferred special education revenue.

  5. WRDSB 2026-27 Budget Report, June 10, 2026

    Page 11: the Special Education Fund is forecast to fall by $1,273,183, and “a reduction in special education funding will put pressure on the board’s budget as the demand for special education resources continues to increase.”

  6. WRDSB 2025-26 Budget Presentation, June 11, 2025

    Page 11, Core Education Funding: Special Education Fund $107,423,680 against $113,055,841 of spending.

  7. WRDSB Special Education Plan 2024-2025, amended July 2024

    PDF page 8: “More than 12,000 students receive some form of special education assistance each year.”

  8. 2019 Capital Priorities Program Submission, September 16, 2019

    Appendix A, PDF pages 9–10: the nine ranked projects. Trustees approved the submission the same night; the Ministry deadline was September 30, 2019.

  9. 2021 Capital Priorities Program Submission, May 10, 2021

    Four projects, due to the Ministry by May 21, 2021.

  10. 2022-23 Capital Priorities Program Submission, February 28, 2022

    Five projects, submitted February 25, 2022.

  12. 2024-25 Capital Priorities Grant Program Submission, September 16, 2024

    Three projects: Huron Heights SS addition, North Cambridge and Rosenberg II.

  13. Community Planning and Facility Partnerships report, November 9, 2020

    Of the nine 2019 projects, Doon South II (now Willow River PS) and the Laurelwood PS addition were approved.

  14. Major capital projects update, January 24, 2022

    “On November 23, 2021 we received approval from the Ministry of Education for a new school in the Breslau-Hopewell Crossing area.”

  15. Community Planning and Facility Partnerships report, October 17, 2022

    On the five 2022 projects: “None of the submitted projects were approved for funding.”

  16. Community Planning and Facility Partnership Opportunities report, September 15, 2025

    PDF page 8: “In 2024, the WRDSB submitted three projects for provincial funding through the Capital Priorities Grant Program; however, none were approved.”

  17. WRDSB news, June 17, 2026

    The province announces $31.3 million for the new Rosenberg II elementary school in Kitchener. The announcement does not say which funding round it came from.

  18. WRDSB board package, September 28, 2026

    Community Planning and Facility Partnership report, Appendix A: North Cambridge, Parkway, Waterloo-Oxford, Ayr, Huron Heights, John Mahood, the southwest Kitchener secondary, the WCI rebuild and the Lexington rebuild are all still listed as “proposed.” The ‘2028’ in the file name is the board’s typo.

  19. Ontario Ministry of Education, enrolment by school, 2024-25

    Winston Churchill PS (school 615889): 320 students. October headcount, rounded to the nearest five.

  20. WRDSB 2020-2030 Long-Term Accommodation Plan

    PDF page 98: Winston Churchill PS, built 1965, 216 permanent places. Permanent capacity excludes portables and portapaks.

  21. City of Waterloo council summary, June 8, 2026

    Council approved 2,823 homes in 12 towers at 446 Albert Street. A permit check on September 30 found only a completed demolition at the address, not tower construction.

  22. CBC News, August 20, 2025

    “Education minister open to eliminating Ontario school trustees.”

  23. Government of Ontario, “School board oversight,” updated May 29, 2026

    Names the eight boards under provincial supervision: Dufferin-Peel Catholic, Near North, Ottawa-Carleton, Peel, Thames Valley, Toronto, Toronto Catholic and York Catholic.

  24. CBC News, February 12, 2026

    “Tuition set to rise, OSAP grants lower with new Ontario post-secondary funding changes: minister.”

  25. CBC News (The Canadian Press), June 5, 2026

    “Ontario spent $465M more on OSAP last year. 95% of that went to private career college students, docs show.” The government had cited “unsustainable” costs when it cut grants.

How the numbers were worked out

  • 106 is 64,474 students (average daily enrolment) divided by 609.2 educational assistant FTE, which is 105.8. All 72 boards were recalculated from the Ministry file. The middle board is the midpoint of the 36th and 37th.
  • “Educators” means classroom teachers, designated early childhood educators and educational assistants. Adding library and guidance teachers gives 13.0 students per educator, fifth of 72.
  • Special education figures are the board’s budget estimates from the Core Education Funding table in each year’s budget presentation, not year-end actuals.
  • A request is one project in one Capital Priorities round. The 23 requests cover 13 projects, because several were asked for more than once. Rosenberg II is shown in the 2024–25 round, the last round in which the board asked for it.
  • Permanent capacity excludes portables and portapaks.

Found a mistake?

If something here is wrong or out of date, email brian@best4schoolboard.com and I will correct it.

Last updated October 10, 2026

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Election day is Monday, October 26

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