Teachers call on school board for help

The Brandon Teachers’ Association is calling on the Brandon School Division and the Manitoba government to address three urgent issues ahead of the 2026-27 budget.

The issues are chronic underfunding, classroom size and complexity, and the need for more support for both students and teachers.

“Less funding means less support for students and more overworked teachers,” BTA president Sandra Thompson said.

Funding has not kept pace with rapid enrolment growth or the increasingly complex needs of students, Thompson said during a presentation before the school board on Monday.

“Brandon’s student population has grown by 19 per cent over the past decade, more than double the provincial average,” she said. “The division now ranks among the top three metro school divisions in Manitoba for enrolment growth, placing additional strain on classrooms and staffing.”

Thompson said teachers are feeling the impact most acutely through growing class sizes and increased classroom complexity, which she identified as the top two funding priorities in a recent survey of Brandon teachers.

Data collected by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society showed that, except for Grades 1 and 2, BSD class sizes are above the provincial average, she said.

She said the board made the difficult decision not to hire 33 full-time-equivalent staff that were included in the draft budget to address student enrolment last year. This year, Thompson said, the division sees high school classes with more than 30 students in them.

“Imagine if you were one of the many students who required help in a class of 30, waiting for the teacher to help 29 other students,” she said.

“Teachers are highly trained professionals, capable of adapting curriculum and supporting diverse learners. However, teachers are not magicians … one teacher can only do so many things at one time.”

Classroom complexity, Thompson said, extends far beyond student numbers. Teachers are increasingly balancing the needs of students with learning disabilities, behavioural challenges, mental-health concerns, English-as-an-additional-language needs and significant learning gaps linked to the pandemic, often within the same classroom, she said.

Thompson read comments from teachers collected during a fall survey.

“We must do too much with too little. It’s defeating and deflating to not be able to do so through no fault of our own,” one teacher wrote.

Another said, “I see my colleagues in the classroom crying and so overwhelmed with student behaviour, violence, poverty and academic concerns. I don’t know how to help them.”

A third warned, “The job feels impossible, and I’m exhausted and contemplating quitting.”

Thompson told the Sun those voices reflect a growing crisis in teacher burnout that is contributing to recruitment and retention challenges across the division.

“There is currently a teacher shortage, and teachers are burning out and leaving the profession,” Thompson said in an interview after the presentation.

“Their plates are full, and they’re overwhelmed.”

Rather than calling for a fixed number of new hires, Thompson said the association is asking for budgets that reflect the realities inside classrooms.

Following the presentation, board chair Linda Ross thanked Thompson and noted that trustees do not respond to delegations immediately, adding that the board would respond by a later date.

Trustee Breeanna Sieklicki asked whether the concerns had been shared beyond the division. Thompson said the issues are being raised at all levels, including with the Manitoba Teachers’ Society and the province.

“Everything I’ve presented tonight isn’t really new news,” Thompson said. “MTS has shared a lot of this information, and we’ve advocated to Education Minister Tracy Schmidt. This information is being shared at all levels.”

The concerns raised by the BTA align closely with those of the board and administration, particularly when it comes to prioritizing classroom needs, BSD Supt. Mathew Gustafson told the Sun on Tuesday.

“We all share the goal of supporting students and providing quality education,” Gustafson said. “Enrolment growth has added significant pressure, as more students require more classrooms and more teachers, driving up salary costs.”

Gustafson said the board is placed in a difficult position if provincial funding does not increase to cover rising costs, including salary harmonization.

“There’s not much area now left to work with,” he said. “There are growing impacts on areas such as maintenance and operations.”

Despite those challenges, Gustafson said he is cautiously optimistic that ongoing discussions with the province will result in additional funding.

Thompson closed her presentation by urging trustees not to pursue further cuts, as the stakes extend beyond teachers to students and families across Brandon.

“This is not the time for cuts,” she said. “We need funding. We need support. We need more teachers. We need help.”

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