Piatkowski not running for WRDSB chair again

The former chair of the Waterloo Region District School Board will not be returning to the position.

Scott Piatkowski has announced he won't be running for chair and is reflecting on his time in the role.

"There's nothing during my tenure as chair that I would've done differently," said Piatkowski. "I stand by every decision I made as chair."

The announcement follows a tumultuous term for the board that included the suspension of a sitting trustee and a lawsuit filed by a former teacher.

Piatkowski is hopeful they'll be able to put past issues behind them with six new elected trustees.

"I think the last term, at least the public perception, was characterized by acrimony by trustees," said Piatkowski. "I felt that a lot of that had become personalized, and I thought stepping back from the chair was a way to refocus our attention on where it should be, which is on the students.

"I think some of the past issues may still carry over, but hopefully we can put them to bed quickly and deal with the other issues."

Piatkowski adds that he's looking forward to getting back into the debate and being able to move motions and raise questions, which he couldn't do as chair.

Piatkowski won re-election for his trustee position in October along with Kathleen Woodcock, Cindy Watson, Mike Ramsay, and Joanne Weston.

The board will choose a chairperson at a meeting on Nov. 21.