CUPE 256 Condemns Deep Staffing Cuts at Upper Grand District School Board Amid Ongoing Staffing Crisis

GUELPH, ON – CUPE 256 and the Ontario School Board Council of Unions (OSBCU) strongly condemn the Upper Grand District School Board’s decision to move ahead with significant staffing cuts despite ongoing understaffing and increasing workload pressures across the board.

The Board recently notified the Local that it plans to eliminate 21 positions, including 20 caretaker positions and one maintenance position, with layoffs expected to take effect by the end of the school year. The reductions come as the Board also moves forward with the closure of the Terry James Resource Centre.

CUPE 256 represents approximately 300 education workers, including custodial, maintenance, and ESL staff, at the Upper Grand District School Board.

“These cuts are unacceptable and don’t reflect the realities in our schools,” said Bill Foster, President of CUPE 256. “Our caretakers and maintenance workers keep our schools safe, clean and functioning every day. Instead of reducing the frontline staff our schools depend on, the Board should be investing in the workers who keep schools running and students learning.”

The Board has not demonstrated that the proposed staffing reductions are necessary. Throughout 2023 and 2024, CUPE 256 worked with school board management to review and validate the square footage calculations used to determine custodial staffing levels. Those discussions ended without agreement, and the Local maintains the available data does not support the proposed reductions.

Board projections submitted to the Ministry of Education indicate that student enrolment is expected to decline by approximately one per cent next school year. At the same time, the Board is opening a new high school, constructing a new elementary school, and planning additional schools, increasing the amount of space that will require ongoing custodial and maintenance services.

The Local is also concerned that the Board is reducing frontline staff while maintaining significant layers of management. Following the proposed layoffs, the Board will have approximately 204 custodial and maintenance workers, with seven supervisors reporting to a senior facilities manager, all earning more than $150,000 annually. One maintenance supervisor earns approximately $180,000 while overseeing only six maintenance workers. CUPE 256 says the Board should be protecting frontline services instead of cutting the workers who keep schools clean, safe and operating every day.

“CUPE 256 is extremely concerned about the impact these cuts will have on schools,” said Foster. “The Board has already indicated that reduced staffing will result in new cleaning standards in September. Students and staff deserve clean, safe schools, and lowering expectations because there are fewer workers is not a solution.”

The OSBCU says these cuts reflect a broader pattern driven by chronic underfunding of education in Ontario since 2018.

“What we’re seeing at Upper Grand District School Board is part of a broader pattern, where education workers are being asked to pay the price for underfunding,” said Joe Tigani, President of the OSBCU. “These are the people who support students with special needs, maintain safe schools, and ensure schools function every day. Cutting these workers hurts everyone.”

CUPE 256 and the OSBCU are calling on the province to properly fund education and on the Upper Grand District School Board to immediately reverse these job cuts.

“Students deserve safe, supported learning environments,” Tigani said. “That starts with investing in the workers who make that possible. The OSBCU stands behind CUPE 256 members as they fight back. We are united in defending good jobs, protecting vital services, and pushing back against a system that continues to undervalue education workers and the students they serve.”