With the future of Ontario school boards under the microscope by the Ford government due to their spending habits, CityNews has learned internal disputes at one of the province’s largest Catholic school boards have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.A freedom of information request obtained by Citynews shows infighting at the York Catholic District School Board has cost taxpayers almost $208,000.“That’s a teacher out of a classroom. One teacher who could be making a change in students’ lives because a few trustees can’t get along with each other,” said Michael Totten, the President of the York Catholic Teachers’ union. The legal battle centres around trustee Teresa McNicol, one of 10 elected trustees who serve on the board. Following an argument with other board members, McNicol was accused of breaching the trustee code of conduct, which led to a string of legal disputes that spanned years. In one judicial review, a judge ruled in McNicol’s favour, and while she walked away cleared of the allegations, trustees burned through cash trying to fight the decision.“Could that money not have gone back to really supporting students in our classrooms, which is probably the biggest thing we all want,” asked Totten.Education Minister Paul Calandra has pointed to other examples of wasteful spending at school boards to justify stripping elected trustees of their powers at five of Ontario’s largest school boards, replacing them with government-appointed supervisors. The TCDSB was not one of the five Ontario boards affected.Calandra has also threatened to eliminate trustees in Ontario by the end of the year, which has sparked outrage. Totten tells CityNews while he disagrees with that approach, he does believe elected trustees need stronger provincial oversight. “Money that the boards are given need to be going into our classrooms, I’m absolutely in agreement with that, and I don’t find that’s happening here in York all the time. I do think there’s wasteful spending among our trustees that they need to be better about.”Advocates gathered at Queen’s Park this week, demanding the Ford government reverse course and give trustees their power back.“Elected local school board trustees, although they may not be perfect all the time, they’re there for your community and you elected them,” said Joe Tigani, the president of the Ontario School Board Council of Unions. The YCDSB says it has since amended its code of conduct policy and that its focus remains on providing effective governance for staff, students and families.