Understaffing Crisis: CUPE Education workers call for urgent action as staff and students face daily violence

Education workers with the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) in Kingston, Ontario are calling on school board management and trustees to take immediate action to address the rampant violence that frontline education workers are facing every single day.

"Violent outbursts have become part of the daily routine," said Brenda Price, President of CUPE Local 1480. "Our members at the LDSB are experiencing physical violence every single day - including biting, scratching, hair-pulling, and serious injuries - because students are not given the supports they need."

Chronic understaffing and years of government underfunding have created unsafe and unsustainable working and learning conditions in schools across the region. Since 2018, the Ontario government has cut billions from public education, leaving schools severely short of all education workers, including Educational Assistants, Designated Early Childhood Educators, custodians, school secretaries, IT technicians, library workers, and other classifications.

As a result, students are not receiving the support they need - and education workers are paying the price: caretakers are often tasked with cleaning up destroyed property caused by student outbursts; maintenance and trades employees repair and/or replace damages caused by violent outbursts; IT technicians must fix electronics that have been broken by students throwing laptops and other devices across classrooms; Early Childhood Educators aren't able to do their jobs properly because there are not enough Educational Assistants assigned to students who need their support; and clerical staff must deescalate and support violent students sent to "the office".

A CUPE-OSBCU survey found that over 54% of Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers at Limestone District School Board experience a violent incident every single day. These incidents include hitting, kicking, punching, biting, hair-pulling, and objects being thrown. Violence that was once rare has now become routine.

Price continued, "This is not our students' fault. They need more support than they're currently getting in this system. We need to hire hundreds more education workers just to get back to a safe baseline."

Education workers report being routinely placed in unsafe situations - such as working alone with high-needs students in alternate spaces, with no witnesses or protocols if something goes wrong. When incidents occur, staff are left without support, and students continue without the consistent care and structure they require to thrive.

"This is not fair to anyone," Price added. "Not to the students who need consistent support, not to the staff who are doing their best under impossible conditions, and not to the broader school community that deserves a safe learning environment."

The impact extends far beyond workers - students' learning environments are being disrupted daily. Without adequate staffing, classrooms cannot function safely or effectively, and the quality of education continues to decline.

CUPE Local 1480 is urging the Limestone District School Board and the Ontario government to:

• Immediately increase staffing levels to ensure adequate support in every classroom.
• Implement clear safety protocols to protect both students and staff.
• Restore funding to public education to meet the growing needs of students and schools.

"Our members are at a breaking point," said Price. "Frontline education workers are being left to manage extreme situations without adequate staffing, planning, or backup. The message is clear: we need help, and we need it now."

Numbers at a Glance:

• According to a CUPE-OSBCU survey, over 54% of Educational Assistants and Child and Youth Workers at Limestone District School Board report experiencing a violent incident every single day.
• 64% of CUPE LDSB education workers do unpaid work for the school board. This works out to an estimated 35.9 full-time jobs of unpaid work at Limestone DSB per year.
• 60% of EAs and CYWs say their classrooms are evacuated at least sometimes due to violent or disruptive incidents. 98% of EAs/CYWs say there are students at their school who need the support of an EA but who do not have that support.
• 100% of EAs/CYWs say they sometimes have to choose between 2 or more students who need their support at the same time.
• 75% of EAs/CYWs support 5 or more students, up from 60% in 2018.