'Lot of mistrust right now': Parents call out WRDSB after discontinued support dog program discussed at board meeting

Parents of students at Sheppard Public School are once again putting pressure on the Waterloo Regional District School Board over its decision to pull a support dog program from classrooms.

For several years, two specially-trained dogs have been visiting the Kitchener school to help students experiencing discomfort or stress. It was part of the Canine Assisted Intervention Program organized through National Service Dogs (NSD).

The program was suddenly canceled just days before the start of the school year. Parents claim they had no notice of the school board’s decision.

The Waterloo Regional District School Board told CTV News in October that the pilot program ended due to lack of data.

On Monday, two parents who want to bring the program back spoke out at a public school board meeting. The executive director of National Service Dogs was also in attendance to voice her support for the initiative.

Delegates alleged the board provided inaccurate information by claiming the program’s cancelation was communicated to parents beforehand.

“There’s a lot of mistrust right now as to how parents are being communicated to, and the transparency, which were being shared,” parent Madison Kolberg explained at the meeting. “I think we’re just really disappointed in that aspect of things, of how we’re being communicated to. I approach that conversation, and my delegation, from a place of shared curiosity, trust and partnership.”

Kolberg, whose daughter has complex needs, said she specifically chose Sheppard Public School because it offered access to support dogs.

“Cambridge Memorial Hospital has a facility dog,” she explained. “It’s been a big part of [my daughter’s] transition through what she’s gone through.”

Madison Kolberg, parent of a Sheppard Public School student, (left) and Rochelle Barber, from National Service Dogs, (right) on Nov. 12, 2024. (Heather Senoran/CTV News)

In a statement to CTV News on Tuesday, the school board said it informed dog owners and staff of the cancellation before September. They also claimed they discussed the program’s end with the school’s council members in October.

They reiterated that point during Monday’s meeting.

“Although we sent the school day message to the school community, it was never a secret and was shared openly with students,” said WRDSB Superintendent Jay Fedosoff.

Kolberg insisted the only communication parents got was a statement on the school’s website minutes before Monday’s meeting.

“[We’re looking for] some transparency around communication and some ability to have a conversation, some accountability for things that were said out of context or just outright not correct,” she said.

In a statement Tuesday, the board went into more detail about the lack of data from the support dog program .

“The absence of data in relation to the Sheppard Public School program meant the WRDSB was unable to assess the impact of the pilot program on students, staff and families,” a spokesperson for the WRDSB said in a statement.

The board added that only two parents brought concerns to the attention of the school’s principal.

“This is a bigger decision than the principal,” countered Kolberg. “We've put all our resources into speaking to the higher staff at this point and to the trustees, because this is a new principal and there are things to consider in terms of being respectful on both ends.”

Quessa, a trained support dog, from National Service Dogs. (Heather Senoran/CTV News)

A petition has been launched to bring the support dog program back. It currently has close to 300 signatures on it, nearly one signature per student at the school.

Supporters also note that the Canine Assisted Intervention Program costs the school nothing.

“This is a free resource that this school had, that the board has known before them to really help in terms of equity, inclusion and accessibility,” Kolberg said.

The board, meanwhile, argued that it wasn’t clear that the dogs were necessary.

“The principal has not heard from any staff that they are missing the dogs as a necessary tool for student well-being and success. They miss the dogs because they like dogs,” Fedosoff said in the meeting.

Trustees unanimously agreed to have the board’s Policy Working Group take a closer look at the concerns raised by the delegates.

Kolberg and National Service Dogs hope the pups can return to the school for a proper farewell.

“For our kids to have a trauma-informed closure,” Kolberg explained.

Closure would help the dogs too, according to the NSD’s director, Rochelle Barber. She lives with Quessa, one of the dogs who worked at the school.

“She loved going to work every day. She was excited and happy to go, would run inside and greet all the people with joy and eagerness to work,” Barber said.