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ontario has this figured out and other schools in the province do.. Staying at school for lunch has always been the normal thing to do. It has nothing to do with entitlement and everything to do with how the working world works and how schools have always worked in the past. Paying a lunch fee is out of the norm.  
 
https://settlement.org/downloads/ElementaryGuideSWIS%20DEC4.pdf  
 
Page 26  
 
Supervision of Students in the School Yard  
 
Every school day there will be a school staff member on the school property, in the school yard for at least 15 minutes before school starts and 15 minutes after school ends.  
 
During recess (a break in the child’s school day during which students play outside or participate in school-related activities) your children are also supervised in the schoolyard.  
 
If your children stay at school for lunch, the school will supervise them. (During extreme weather conditions, children are kept inside during recess and lunch breaks.)  
 
Students are not supervised at any other time. It is important not to leave young children in the schoolyard early in the morning or late after school – when supervision is not provided by the school.

Appreciate someone raising this issue - and to those who say it is entitlement mentality - that's simply not the case. I am not someone who wants more services from government. However, a few points to consider:  
 
I don't know of any other jurisdiction that does this. Not saying there aren't any, but I too am from Ontario and have never heard of this.  
 
What are school hours? Roughly 8:30-3:30 in most places? That's 7 hours, minus a 1 hour lunch. So we're saying teachers will directly supervise/teach kids for 6 hours per day? How many hours are we paying them to actually work?  
 
Why are children who are bused (costing even more money to the school division) allowed to be supervised at lunch, while those who cost nothing to the division in transportation cannot? That's quite unfair. Do parents pay for busing based on their choice of where to live?  
 
Property taxes and income taxes are significantly higher here than where I came from (major city in Ontario). I fully appreciate the geography and very small tax base in Manitoba - so higher taxation is a reality - but it shouldn't mean substantially less service. A lot of people here seem to think we're paying less than other jurisdictions - in some cases yes, in many - no. I pay more here for virtually everything compared to where I used to live (car insurance, internet, income tax, property tax, food etc.).  
 
This isn't a matter of entitlement, it's a question of logic - where's the logic in paying more for less service, and in those who cost the division the most being allowed to remain at lunch? Where's the logic in being unable to come up with a supervision schedule for teachers? What happens to the other 1.5-2 hours per day that we presumably pay teachers for, where they are not supervising kids or teaching? How can other jurisdictions make this work and we can't?

If you don’t like how lunch at schools are being handled, move to the country. Problem solved. Bus students can stay for lunch for free.

So they do things differently in Ontario. Great. This isn’t Ontario. Or Winnipeg. It’s Brandon.  
 
Times change. Policies change. That’s a fact of life.

There are a few pieces to this puzzle. Teachers contracts say they get a work free lunch, then so be it.  
 
Pretty hard to send away bussed kids for lunch. The school board covers that. You would have to ask them why they don't cover everything, but I can assure you we would end up paying for that anyway through taxes.  
 
Most kids that stay in cost $1 a day. You're paying someone to watch your kid for a buck. Should be manageable. And you do need to have X number of supervisors to students.  
 
Every town and province will be different. I have friends in the states that pay 60 a month for their one kid. I also have friends in Ontairo that say the only thing cheaper than here is breathing air.

Right, its weird how some people think this is normal. It's really not logical to think that people can just be home for their kids at lunch there for being forced into paying yet another fee. This is a problem that should be fixed. Im going to go out on a limb here and say that anyone over the age of 20 would have had to stay at school and had to get permission to leave the school at the lunch hour. (im not sure when this started out here)  
 
As for teachers they have prep times as well. They don't go home at closing time and they put a lot of their personal time into their jobs as well so they do definitely deserve a lunch. They do a lot and deal with a lot. They should probably even get a pay raise.  
 
As you said Im not sure why they can't do rotations like they use to (or maybe they still do in ontario Im not sure would have to ask someone I know) and have different lunch times worked in there for them. Just like a lot of jobs out there employees take turns having a lunch break they can't all have 12-1 .  
 
A lot of schools that are in small towns do not have this issue out here. what im seeing is its possible to make this happen. They use EAs, Volunteers, and older children. If that isn't available or enough then they need to hire a few extras hands. Really the schools could all use more EAs which would be a simple solution and would also help our teachers and better the learning environment for the children. Im surprised the schools aren't fighting to change this it would be in their best interest to get more staffing.  
 
Also a good point about the bus students already costing the system more money , It had crossed my mind. It's not their fault but you have a group of kids that the province already pays more for then they get free lunch hour supervision and the walkers get dinged.  
 
What it comes down to they need to give them the funding for it... as well as they just simply need to give them more funding in general. Of all the things our taxes go to SCHOOLS are one of the most important. Kids deserve the best education we can give them to get a good start in life... they are our future.

exactly they can change... so maybe the odd man out should get back on track with the rest.

It sounds like you maybe need to voice your concern at one of the division meetings, or perhaps become involved with your child's parent council.

People really have to stop saying teachers are not putting in their hours. Any teacher I know works hours that most people don’t even see. Do you think those papers grade themselves, or report cards just get done at the wave of a pen. Class prep takes time, this stuff doesn’t just happen. Why shouldn’t they get a lunch break?

Thanks Milky Whey, I agree. Teachers put in waaaay more hours than we know of, and that’s not the issue here so let’s let them have their lunch breaks in peace.  
 
I live outside the city and my kids attend another school division. Teachers usually get at least 1/2 hour for lunch unless there is a problem or they have work to catch up on. The EAs wander around helping kids, but I have seen many teachers stay in their classroom and eat with the kids, voluntarily giving up their lunch breaks to help their students.  
 
Would you, in your job, voluntarily give up your lunch break on multiple occasions just to help your co-workers? I bet not. Kudos to teachers.

My oldest child is 23, and we paid for lunch program all thru school for him starting in kinder. So this lunch program system has been in place for many years now, well over 18 years. We paid $20 a month for him to stay for lunch. The rate never went higher, and it worked out to roughly $1/day. This paid for his supervision. The program was organized by parent council and money paid for hired supervisors. Teachers deserve a lunch break. 20 plus kids is not an easy task on the best of days, so a sanity break is necessary too. Child tax is supposed to rise a bit again in July, maybe parents can use that to pay the $20 monthly fee for someone to watch their children (which is a cheap/fair rate).  
And just cause it works in some places, doesn’t mean that’s what’s good for others. For example, Some Alberta schools get out at noon on Fridays... should we do that too? Wouldn’t that be more childcare needed? Everyone has their own system for a reason.  
We’ve all made it work for this many years now, why should it change for you?

Thanks that helps me with a timeline of when it approx. started. I had asked someone that has children in their 30s and she said it wasn't happening then. She had heard whispers of these paid programs going on now.  
 
So your saying it doesn't work here... sure it does. seeing as i know there are at least 2 schools in brandon that have it figured out. and sounds like pretty much all the small towns have it figured out. it is definitely doable.  
 
Once again this is not about the teachers. Not expecting them to do it. What the schools are doing is using EAs, Volunteers, and older children from what I have been told.  
 
Very Clearly want to state that the teachers are not expected to give up their lunch. I respect the job teachers have and they are very hard working. this is on the school bored needing to make changes, fund it and run these programs not volunteer parent run programs without set rules and regulations.

truthfully I would sit in my classroom and eat my lunch wouldn't bother me one bit. I do private daycare, I never get a full on break lol. But i know thats not for all.  
 
Teachers are super heroes! Im not asking for them to give up their lunch (feeling like a broken record). Wanting to see the schools get on bored with what other schools are doing to make the lunch hour available to all without a fee.

Yes I know.. in order to bring something up I would need to know more about what the other schools are doing vs just knowing what a couple do. which goes back to the original purpose of this post.

When I went to school in Brandon,I went home for lunch.My mom was single parent but she was home for lunch everyday.My dad died when I was 3.Lots of people still get lunch from 12-1.

Small town girl here, over the age of 30...we all stayed at the school, no fee. I believe it was the EA’s who supervised but I think the teachers might have been on a rotation too?  
 
When I heard about how things are here I found it super weird! I don’t have children so it doesn’t affect me but I can certainly see and understand why it would be a problem for many many families. Yes they make it work but that’s because it’s the only option.  
 
I wonder how many of those that are so against it changing, would continue to pickup their child or pay the school the $20 if they didn’t have too?? Lol. Is there any disadvantage to this if it were to change? Why the fight against it? Seems like it would be much more convenient for everybody  
 
Am I understanding though that the kids who don’t stay at the school don’t get their lunch recess??? That’s a bigger problem imo. Kids need recess for a multitude of reasons. That’s sad if they don’t get it

If school lunch break was from 12-1 that would make it easier for some working parents, but how many people get their lunch break at 11:40 when school lets out?

My oldest child will be 30 this year and she was involved in a parent run paid lunch program in Brandon. It’s been around for quite awhile.

As a young parent, I find this discussion useful!  
 
I’m from a small town, where E.A.’s/ volunteers walked up and down the halls for elementary kids at lunch time and monitored the lunch hour recess then teachers took turns for the other recesses. My husband was from one of the schools that wasn’t assigned a catchment area and had the same thing when he grew up.  
 
We were quite surprised to learn from someone that lots of kids are sent home in the catchment area we are in, it’s something we never thought of. We are able to make our work schedules around the normal before/after school hours without using daycare but being home for lunch time won’t work so we will be sending our little one to a school that allows the kids to stay in the building at lunch. Besides, it’s not much of a lunch if they spend most of it travelling back and forth.  
 
Edited by Seana-T, 2019-05-30 09:40:37

WAHMderful_Life, you say that 2 schools have figured it out, can you please clarify what you mean by this statement as this can potentially be a model for all BSD schools. Thanks.

Let's go back to the 60s and 70s when all kids went home for lunch. Many parents worked . We made our lunch (actually made it ourselves) ate and walked back to school. We survived!!

Ok. Don't mention teachers as everyone gets so defensive on how hard they work. We all know they are there hours before and after school each and every day prepping for classes. The teachers contract has it they get paid for prep time and lunch time. Can't change that. We all know we haven't seen a teacher leave school before a student, nor use previous years teachings a following year. Every year a teacher's hard drive is formatted and they start fresh. We get they never during paid time talk about upcoming weekend plans what they did on a weekend, those kinds of things. Teachers are one of the hardest working people we get that. Now on the topic of lunch times.  
 
Catholic school, all time was covered by the school as I know of. I paid registration fees and that was it. Supervision was provided by older students and faculty.  
 
Fairness for all students is what seems to be the going trend for programs. Give everyone the chance to stay is the thinking. If a school is going to charge which whatever, if it is $20 a month so be it. What I have seen is there is paid lunch but for only a limited amount of students. Charge every student even the bussed ones. It is the choice of the parent usually for wanting to be at a certain school, so one they should be paying bus fees for their prefered school choice, and second if it is a monthly fee for lunch hour supervision they pay that too. That way everyone has an equal opportunity to access the lunch program.

Best post yet. School used to be up hill both ways through a blizzard in June if I recall correctly. The reality is that I can’t even leave my kid in the car to go pay for gas without someone calling me a terrible parent or calling the cops. I don’t see why anyone would be opposed to a lunch program for everyone that wants to be i:ncluded. Not everyone has the luxury of a stay at home parent. It does not have to be teachers that do it. Pay for use would work fine. Times do change. Very very slowly in Brandon but it still happens.

With fishin guy. But unfortunately 99% of people will complain about having to pay the $20 a month.

If everyone that wanted their child to stay over lunch paid the $20/month, is there enough people who will work and supervise the students?

This is a very interesting discussion and I certainly see the valid points from both sides. Fortunately my children are grown now but we came from a small town and they stayed at school for lunch. Being a small community, most folks have to travel 45 minutes to work so it would have been impossible to get them for lunch.  
 
Break time is the best opportunity for children to socialize and make friends. For the children who have to go home at lunch and not be able to return to play with friend during the remainder of the lunch hour seems ridiculous. It would be interesting to hear what the kids think.

Not at all schools... Some are open to all without caps but others are capped at X amount of kids.

lol I was worried about teachers rights taking over this thread rather then the discussion of lunch hour.  
 
Yes, If they really can't make the program free then buss students should have the fee as well... which would drop the price of the fee for everyone. Its fare that way. Now that being said it would have to change at BSD level as it is written in there that bus students get to stay over the lunch hour. Now with enough planning as other schools have proven it is possible to go fee free lunch hour for everyone so if we put in the effort I think we could manage to figure it out.

If this is actually going toward some sort of proposal to change it then I'm for it.  
 
And no I don't have a school aged child.  
 
Once that is successful then maybe you can do the same thing for bus catchment areas. Ie kids across the street getting the bus but closer side doesnt even if willing to pay.

So tell me again how you are planning to provide every school with free open lunch programs for whoever wants to attend?