Discussions

My family and I are very soon moving to Brandon. We have started the process of enrolling our two kids into the school in our catchment area. We were told that the lunch program is not only full, but there is a waiting list. When your kids cannot come home for lunch what other options do parents have? I don't need daycare, nor do we live far enough for the bus. When space becomes available I do not have any issue in paying for the program but what do other parents do? Is there daycare's that only do lunch?

Do you mean to say that a child cannot sit in the lunch room and have a lunch that has been made at home and brought to school

exactly what I am saying. Because the lunch program is full, my kids have to come home until spots open up.

Yep, that's how it works now. You have to pay for your kid to stay for lunch and there is limited spaces because there has to be a certain staff to kid ratio. I'm sure this is very difficult when families have no choice but to have their kids stay for lunch.

99sportster said "Do you mean to say that a child cannot sit in the lunch room and have a lunch that has been made at home and brought to school "

What they are saying is in town students are not allowed to stay in school and have lunch. You either need to be bussed or pay for supervision over the lunch hour.  
 
Back in my school days two teachers would rotate watching lunch hours and recess. If it is a matter of staffing due to the union not wanting to have teacher supervise, add an extra $10 or something to registration fees to cover part time supervisors and allow the whole school to be able to stay over lunch.  
 
Best bet is to put out a lunch hour request in the classifieds or see if anyone on the block can make friends with, possible senior that is home they could eat at.

In the 80's when I was in elementary here in Brandon, my mom paid for part time daycare for me to go to just for lunch. Even back then staying at the school for lunch was never an option.

there is a waiting list my kids have to come home everyday or make other arrangements. Its making other arrangements I am having problems with. Where we live now, my kids just stay for lunch, no lunch fees or being forced to come home. Is there daycares for just lunch? I don't need childcare before or after school.

Have you tried asking at the school? The secretaries? They might know if there’s someone who does lunch ‘daycare’.

Join Brandon MB & Child Care and see if there is lunch care/supervision for your catchment. Besides that, the only option you really have is to make sure you and/or your spouse is home during the lunch hour from your jobs. Many parents have to to work it out with their employers that there lunch break is the same as their children’s.

Kids can't brown bag it to lunch anymore??

Yes kids “brown bag” it but that means registering and paying for the supervised lunch program at the school. Food is not provided, the supervision is. There’s limited spaces and the one at my kids school fills up very quickly. It’s been full since last spring for this school year.

This might not be something you are interested in, but if you consider enrolling your children in French immersion, the art focused Alexander school, St Augustine’s etc they are eligible to be bussed and all stay for lunch free of charge I believe. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.

My wife told me that the boys had to come home for lunch but I said she must be mistaken...all the money we spend on schools every year and the kids can't sit in a room for 15 minutes and eat lunch?  
 
All of the "Teachers put in so much extra time for free, that's why our taxes are so high and you should be happy to pay them" and then my kid can't even stay at school to eat lunch?  
 
That's absolutely ridiculous...so now you have to rush to school from work take your son home make lunch, drop him off and rush back to work because the teachers can't just eat lunch with the kids for 20 minutes? Or you have to pay extra per child so a teacher can watch them? Man, there is no institution more poorly run than public schools.

I pay $20/ month to allow my child to stay at school. I know at his old school the lunch program was actually parent ran not teacher ran and the kids would just stay in their own rooms for lunch.  
 
I’m not sure who does the lunch program at his new school, I just know he stays in his classroom.

MrDobalina said "My wife told me that the boys had to come home for lunch but I said she must be mistaken...all the money we spend on schools every year and the kids can't sit in a room for 15 minutes and eat lunch?     All of the "Teachers put in so much extra time for free, that's why our taxes are so high and you should be happy to pay them" and then my kid can't even stay at school to eat lunch?     That's absolutely ridiculous...so now you have to rush to school from work take your son home make lunch, drop him off and rush back to work because the teachers can't just eat lunch with the kids for 20 minutes? Or you have to pay extra per child so a teacher can watch them? Man, there is no institution more poorly run than public schools. "

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you are paying "extra per child so a teacher can watch them" - you are paying so the schools can hire someone to supervise the children while they eat lunch.  
 
When my kids were in school, they were only allowed to stay for lunch during the winter months and then parents of those children were expected to volunteer to supervise over lunch hours, both in the classroom while students were eating and on the playground after students went outside.

My child is a bus student and her school has the kids stay for lunch no charge. I think 1 teacher rotates between each class over lunch then someone is on duty outside.  
 
Back in my day many many years ago we had lunch girls/boys come to our class. Grade 7/8 students signed up and came in pairs to our class to supervise us while we ate. Similar ran program like the patrols where they had incentives for the kids to participate.

At our school the lunch program is run by the YMCA, it has nothing to do with the teachers. At other schools I believe it’s parent run. Either way it’s a paid position so it needs to be paid for if you’re wanting to utilize it....no different then before or after school care which is also provided by the YMCA in our school. Why should someone look after your child for free?

The crux of the issue is that if a student is bussed, it is assumed they live too far away to return home for lunch, therefore the school division has a lunch program for them to remain at school.  
 
But if the child isn't bused (i.e. lives within the 1.6 km radius and otherwise doesn't qualify for busing), the assumption is the child will return home for lunch because they are close enough.  
 
In some schools, the parent body has stepped up and created a lunch program for the convenience of working parents, but space is limited, and yes there can be waiting lists. In other schools, the YMCA has been hired to administer the lunch program, but I believe it's still ultimately the parent council that hires them.  
 
There are good suggestions here. Yes, there are people around who do only lunch child care - a lady on my street used to do that and have a couple of older kids go there and each lunch. I think most are in the $5-8/day range.

Brandon is pretty much the only school division where all kids can’t stay for lunch. At other schools teachers take turns watching the kids. Not really sure why Brandon is this way. Does not make any sense to me.

Woody94 said "Brandon is pretty much the only school division where all kids can’t stay for lunch. At other schools teachers take turns watching the kids. Not really sure why Brandon is this way. Does not make any sense to me. "

If you're comparing Brandon to the surrounding rural communities and school divisions, of course they're all going to have lunch programs because virtually all the kids are bused. Even for the few town kids that might not be bused, if the vast majority of kids in any given school are bused then it makes sense to just generally have a school-run lunch program.  
 
If, however, you compare them to other urban school divisions in Manitoba, they pretty much all have user-pay lunch programs if the child lives in the catchment and isn't bused. I went to French Immersion in Winnipeg and was bused, and therefore utilitized the school lunch program. But my brothers, who attended the community school instead, both went to our grandparents for lunch because there was no lunch program and no one was home for them. I have many nieces and nephews in Winnipeg and they all pay for lunch programs if they're not bused.

It is accurate. The teachers look after the kids in the rural areas. The percentage of bus kids is a lot lower than you think. Less than half.  
 
The Winnipeg lunch program might not be free but everyone can stay that wants to. At least according to the people I know in Winnipeg with kids in school. Anyhow the point is to not have a lunch program available for every kid that needs one is stupid.

Our school lunch program is run by the Parent group. Because it is always full, they encourage kids who can go home for lunch to go home. I can purchase a 12-use punch card to cover the occasional day we can't make it home - thank goodness. I rush home each day and barely make it home before he gets there. Lunch is very rushed and I dread the day I get stuck at work for some unexpected reason and am late meeting my child to let him in and feed him. It can be very stressful.  
 
Maybe the OP can find another child in their kids class and have their child take a bagged lunch to their friend's home to eat? Other parents are usually very sympathetic to this problem.

This is so silly to me for working parents that teachers can’t also eat while supervising. But heaven forbid we suggest teachers do more lol. I literally never get a scheduled lunch break or scheduled coffee breaks. We take small breaks between trucks coming to site, or when driving from one site to the next, although driving is hardly considered a break. I eat in my truck onsite (not while driving) daily. I pack lunch items that are easy and quick to eat and I do it because that’s my job. But don’t tell teachers to eat quickly or rotate with other teachers for lunch. Or to eat with their students. That’s just crazy bananas.

They deserve a lunch free of normal day stress. Lunch duty for them should be paid and on a rotating basis for those who want.  
 
Lunch time can be a reboot to the day. Except for bus students it should be user pay and parent run if it can be. In my day very few stayed for lunch. Yet in my day there was far fewer single run families or both parents working. The limited space reason is laugable. The space is there. A paid lunch program that is self financing is a no brainer.  
 
The question is after lunch just who is responsible for them. Another layer of paid responsibility til the buzzer rings? Can the kids come and go to their friends house?.  
 
I was lucky. Short walk to and from. My mom had some neighbor kids over for lunch. Good. It seems our current programs are a mish mash. If the BSD allows them there should be division wide standards or best practices .No one should have to school shop or fib where they live to get access to a decent program.

The Brandon lunch program is completely new to me. Where I currently live, my kids pack a lunch and stay at school. The grade 5 kids monitor the kids throughout the lunch and when lunch is over, the teachers walk the playground to monitor the kids. I think we have figured something out, I just wanted to get my "ducks in a row" before we officially move.  
 
If its lack of supervision or volunteers at lunch that prevents kids from staying, then I am thinking of volunteering when I can. The school my kids are going to I hear is a great school so I am excited!  
 
I agree, teachers do deserve a lunch break. I know some teachers who even work during their lunch period. I definitely did not want another "teacher bashing" with my question!

We used to be in lunch program, and yes waiting lists and you need to pay for. However only the area kids had to pay ....bus kids didn't which we were rather unimpressed with. Also crowded, kids packed in like sardines and noisy. Now we have a school where we eat in class, everyone does and no costs

ifish said "    tryinghard said "Wow, eBrandon is on a roll with teacher topics lately! I love that some of you think teachers shouldn’t get a lunch break! Classic!! " How hard is it to eat lunch while the kids eat lunch. Maybe people should research what they want to do in life before jumping in both feet. If watching kids at recess is an issue or eating in the same room as kids maybe a teacher is not the career for you. "

It’s not just simply watching students eat. Do you know how many kids bring a lunch that has to be warmed up?? Supervisors at our school had to warm the lunches, keep the lines moving so there was time for students to eat. Make sure kids werent goofing around or choking, making sure they clean up after themselves? I’m sorry but not all kids are easy! When is the teacher supposed to eat if they are warming the lunches?  
Teachers deserve a break during the day too. And maybe they have their own children to tend to at lunch as well? And they do watch the children before school and during recess. Lunch is their break.  
 
After the kids eat, they go outside for 30-40 mins. They need supervision for that too. And you have to have proper staff-student supervision ratios.  
To all the parents that think their kids should be just left alone to eat and run around outside, you’d probably be the first to react about lack of supervision if your child choked, fell and broke their arm and had no one to help them, or if they wandered off school property and got hit by a car or went missing!  
Safety rules are in place for a reason. Just hiring supervisors to watch all the kids isn’t always feasible as well. Not a lot of people have an hour to spare to supervise ( that have all their child welfare : criminal checks in place). Even though it’s a paid position... it’s hard to fill based on the fact that it’s only an hour in the middle of the day!  
Just my opinion!

Ifish, it is extremely noisy in classrooms and schools today. My head is often pounding by 10:00 am, never mind noon.  
I love my job and love my students but I appreciate having a lunch break. I eat lunch at my desk and work all lunch hour on various tasks. I appreciate the quiet time so I can be recharged and ready when the kids come storming back in at 12:40!  
Thank you to the parents who appreciate teachers. You have no idea how much we appreciate parents like you!

could check with the schools parent council to see if they still have a list of "lunch moms" or any ideas on someone who may be interested in taking your kids for lunch.  
 
Some parent councils used to keep a list of people willing to take kids at lunch, most don't anymore as it's a liability for them.... It's a messed up situation.  
 
Best bet is to wait until your kids start school and make a friend or 2 that maybe they can go home with. The wait list is very long at most schools, it could be years for kids on the wait list to get in.

In our school the program runs by parent council and parent volunteers. Teachers have klunch and offer some extra activities to kids in class, while volunteering parents ensure the safety of the playgrounds.