Dozens of parents filed into the Hanover School Division (HSD) boardroom on November 7, taking every available seat at the divisional public meeting in the hopes of getting some answers from senior administrators and trustees regarding the ongoing educational assistant (EA) strike.
If HSD’s mission is in fact to “break down the walls between school and community,” as their website states, it didn’t appear to happen in the boardroom that night.
“We recognize that many of you are here because you have strong thoughts and opinions about the EAs,” said board chair Brad Unger.
Indeed, for many parents whose children are struggling with diminished help at school or have been denied access to school altogether, there are questions aplenty.
Many, too, believe that the division’s choice to hire temporary replacement workers isn’t helping matters. They came to explain how that choice is affecting their families.
Unger publicly acknowledged the emails, phone calls, and social media messages HSD has received from parents over the past week and sought to assure them that they’re being heard.
Even so, he told them, there would be no dialogue afforded parents at this public meeting.
Some parents walked out, visibly upset. Others stayed to the end of the meeting in the hopes that the board might have a change of heart.
At the close of the agenda, Unger wrapped up the evening, reminding parents once again that they would not be heard in this session.
One female attendee wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“We’re not leaving,” she told the board. “You are a public school division, so you need to listen to us. This has to change. You’re hiding from our questions and it’s not okay.”
Others, too, pleaded for an opportunity to advocate for their child. Instead the HSD administrators and trustees rose and exited behind a closed door, leaving the frustrated and emotional parents behind.
Unger Apologizes for Misinformation
Prior to opening the evening’s agenda, Unger addressed the parents in attendance. He reminded them that the HSD is a not-for-profit organization which is underfunded by the province, leaving them in a deficit situation with no way to increase the budget. To practice fiscal responsibility is of high importance to the board of trustees.
“If we as a board increase funds to one service the division offers, it always results in an equal decrease to another service,” Unger said. “The division cannot go broke. That can’t be allowed to happen.”
Even so, he said, over the previous two school years, HSD was able to increase the number of EAs in the division by 40 percent and the EA budget by more than $3 million.
Unger followed the formal part of his address with a personal public apology. Over the past 24 hours, he said, he’d received two emails regarding the use of temp agencies.
“I tried to provide good information to the individuals who emailed me, but I was incorrect in the information I gave,” Unger said. “I apologize for this confusion because it has muddied the waters of an already tense topic.”
Parents Speak Out
Victoria Charise was one of the individuals who received inaccurate information from Unger, to which he later responded with an admission of error and the correct information.
According to Charise, Unger’s email to her stated that the temp workers being hired were not required to present criminal record checks or child abuse registry checks in order to fill positions at HSD.
Charise was shocked. As the mother of an eight-year-old special needs child, she needed to know that her son was still being protected by the same laws that apply to the EA support workers who are currently on strike.
Charise says that she questioned a few authorities on Unger’s comment, including Child and Family Services, who reassured her that to hire temp workers without criminal background and child abuse checks would not follow legal protocol.
“I’m a mom of a boy that struggles and he needs an EA really bad, along with so many other kids that struggle,” Charise told The Citizen. “He’s such a good boy and he’s one of the lucky ones that’s been allowed to stay in the school. A lot of other kids are not that lucky.”
He and some other special needs kids have been able to stay in school because she decided to volunteer in his class instead of allowing him to struggle along without his familiar EA there.
Like other parents, Charise has an immeasurable respect for her son’s EA and support workers. Without them, she says, her son would not be making the incredible progress that he is.
“If it wasn’t for his EA, I don’t know where he’d be educationally right now,” Charise says. “He’s come a long way.”
Like other moms in attendance at the public meeting, Charise left in tears.
“I would have hoped that they would be able to listen to us publicly, but they obviously don’t want to face us.”
Outside the HSD headquarters in Steinbach, The Citizen spoke to another mom who chose to remain anonymous. We’ll call her Lisa.
Lisa runs a busy household in Blumenort. She’s got two biological children, two foster children, and she runs a home daycare on the side. Three of the children in Lisa’s care have special needs and attend schools in HSD.
Since the strike began a week ago, two of her children have had temporary support workers assisting them, but only in the morning. It has been requested of Lisa that she pick up these two kids and take them home by noon every day.
Her third child, who would have one-on-one EA support under normal circumstances, has no EA support in school at all right now.
Not only is she unassisted during regular classes, she also hasn’t been allowed to go outside for recess with the other children. According to Lisa, she is being dropped off in the gym with a couple of other special needs kids, making it easier for one temp worker to watch them all.
From Lisa’s perspective, the few temp workers who can be found in the school these days have been assigned to children with higher needs, such as those who have outbursts or pose a flight risk.
“What they’ve offered me, starting tomorrow, is that she will have full-time support at recess,” Lisa says. “But when she’s in the classroom, they’ll try their best when they can.”
Still, Lisa is concerned. As a result of losing her familiar EA, Lisa’s daughter has become defiant. Without that safety net, her sleep patterns have been interrupted and she’s more emotionally charged than before.
What the division doesn’t seem to understand, Lisa says, is that temporary support workers can never fill the shoes of the regular EAs. For virtually all special needs kids, their success is completely dependent on long-term continuity and familiarity with someone who makes them feel safe and loved.
Another irony, Lisa says, is that her daughter is receiving financial aid through Jordan’s Principle. This is a federal funding program through Indigenous Services Canada to ensure that First Nations children have access to the services and supports they need.
In the case of Lisa’s daughter’s, HSD receives the funding to ensure that her daughter gets the educational support staff that she requires.
“She’s got that funding through the [government] agency and isn’t receiving the service because she isn’t one of the [division’s] higher priorities,” says Lisa.
Geoff Dueck Thiessen, regional director for CLAC Local 306, the union representing the striking EAs, concurs with Lisa’s assessment.
“HSD recently shared that they have increased the number of EAs in the schools dramatically,” Thiessen says. “What was not explained is that funding for many of these additional EAs is provided through federal Jordan’s Principle funding, in order to provide support to Indigenous students. CLAC applauds and supports HSD’s use of Jordan’s Principle funding, which is also available to school divisions which pay their EAs a higher wage.”
As difficult as it’s been for Lisa and her family, though, she stands in support of the EAs’ demand for a better wage.
“They work hard, day in and day out,” Lisa says. “They deal with some of the most complex situations.”
As for HSD’s claim to be a student-centred division which strives for excellence, she questions the reality behind the sentiment.
“This whole message of HSD’s, that you care about my kids, I’m sorry but I just don’t feel like you do,” Lisa says.
Why Parents Didn’t Get a Voice at the Public Meeting
According to HSD’s superintendent-CEO Shelley Amos, parents showed up to the Tuesday night public meeting under the false notion that time had been allotted for them to address the board.
It’s a rumour that began on Facebook, she says, and was widely circulated.
“We are not aware of any communication from HSD that would have led parents to believe they would have the opportunity to publicly address the board at the November 7 meeting,” Amos says. “HSD typically posts agendas for board meetings in advance on their website, usually on the Friday before the Tuesday meeting.”
The HSD website has long stated the protocols for making a presentation at any of their public meetings, and it has always been required to make arrangements well in advance.
Disputes will only be heard at a public meeting once all formal channels of communication have been exhausted, the site reads. Presenters must provide an outline of their topic and content prior to the meeting.
If the topic involves personnel or contract issues, the presentation must be made at an in-camera meeting which is not open to the public.
If a group is presenting, one spokesperson should be assigned and that person will have ten minutes to make their presentation. No decisions will be made by the board during the meeting where the presentation is made.
The Decision to Hire Temp Workers
Once the EA strike began, it didn’t take long for HSD to enlist the services of an online recruiting company, Staffmax, to help them find temporary workers to fill the shoes of striking workers.
“If you are ready to take on this meaningful role and help shape the future of students while working in a supportive and rewarding environment, please submit your application… outlining your qualifications and dedication to the mission,” the posting states.
According to the ad, temp workers will be provided with a wage of $20 per hour.
On another online job search site, Indeed, a new post recently appeared. This one is calling for healthcare aides to fill positions at elementary and high schools in Niverville, Steinbach, Kleefeld, and Landmark.
The job is listed as casual with a starting wage of $23 per hour with overtime pay available.
For perspective, and to explain why many EAs feel slighted by this move, the going rate for a regular incoming EA in HSD is set at $16.78 per hour. The maximum rate for long-term EAs was topped out at $20.87 per hour.
Break times for EAs have been unpaid.
It should be noted that companies like Staffmax and Indeed are paid commission by the job poster. So it’s safe to assume that the $20 and $23 wages offered by HSD now will cost them significantly more at the end of the day than if they were paying equivalent wages to striking workers.
Why Did the Union Turn Down HSD’s Last Offer?
According to Thiessen, HSD’s last offer on October 31 fell short of the EAs’ ask for a number of reasons.
For starters, it presented too great a disparity between the proposed starting wage increase for a new EA (8.8 percent) and that of an experienced EA (6.5 percent). But even at an 8.8 percent increase, it still wouldn’t have gotten the starting rate up to $20 per hour.
“While HSD’s offer does appear to be higher than their previous offer, it does not catch EAs up to a living wage, bring them close enough to neighbouring school divisions, or recognize them for the value they are bringing to the delivery of education, as evidenced by what is happening in schools during their absence,” Thiessen says.
All in all, he adds, the numbers may seem impressive when presented in percentages, but they’re much less appealing when presented in real dollars and cents.
For example, HSD’s offer includes a five percent increase in the educational premium. This premium is the extra wage earned by certified EAs versus those who come without certification—and in HSD that amounts to 95 cents.
This means that HSD’s latest offer would give certified EAs an increase of just five cents per hour.
“Five percent sounds good to the public, just like 13 percent sounds good to the public, but [when it’s based] on a small number to begin with, that’s a small amount,” says Thiessen. “We’re still talking about someone who’s catheterizing five-year-olds or dealing with high levels of violence in the school. We’re still saying that offer’s not good enough.”
As it stands, HSD has indicated that their October 31 deal will expire as of November 15. According to Manitoba’s Labour Law, a request can be put to the Labour Board to settle the disruption after 60 days of striking, through an arbitration process.
“CLAC does not believe it’s in the best interests of any stakeholders to have the strike last 60 days, nor to have the dispute settled by the Labour Board,” Thiessen says. “We prefer a negotiated settlement which sees the EAs back with their students as soon as possible.”
HSD Defends 2022 Senior Administrative Increases
In a previous article in The Citizen, we reported what appeared to be a significant wage increase received by Amos and another senior admin between 2021 and 2022.
Based on data provided by InfoMB, a government database for public sector compensation disclosure, Amos’s salary jumped from $152,832.00 to $183,875 in one year, equating to a $31,000 increase, or 20 percent.1
Assistant superintendent Colin Campbell received a similar increase, coming in at $28,000, also equating to a 20 percent increase that year.
To this, the board of trustees responded by saying that the senior admin salary spike was the result of “a lump-sum retroactive payment to compensate for a four-year salary freeze.” As a benchmark, the board looked to teacher wage increases during that period.
“The superintendent-CEO salary is comparatively aligned with other superintendents across the province of Manitoba,” the statement reads. “It reflects the extensive experience, educational credentials, and expertise required for the role.”
Indeed, these two points seem to echo the very things that divisional EAs have been asking for from the start: a wage alignment with EAs in other divisions and compensation equal to the demands of the job they are expected to perform.
