Bites, scratches, kicks and hits – violent incidents in Winnipeg School Division (WSD) classrooms have been spiking over the past several years, according to new data. The Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU) says educational assistants are facing the brunt of the violence. “Every worker is entitled to a safe workplace, and right now these workers don’t have it,” said Kyle Ross, president of the MGEU, which represents about 1,900 support staff in the division. Data obtained by the union through a FIPPA request shows incidents of student-related aggression against the WSD support staff have jumped over the past four years. In the 2025/26 school year, there were 1,925 reported incidents, though Ross said that number could be higher. “They’re facing a lot of violence. We have a fear that it’s actually being underreported,” he said. Of the violent incidents, 855 involved hitting, 249 involved scratches, 191 involved kicking, and 182 involved biting. Almost all were against educational assistants. The data shows about 48 per cent of those incidents involved students with additional needs. The union said the number of EAs with the specialized training to meet those needs is lacking. “We’re hearing that they need more of them,” Ross said. “They need more of them trained with de-escalation skills.” Violence on the rise since pandemic, teachers’ association says The data is no surprise to Kristen Fallis, the Winnipeg Teachers’ Association president. She said violence in the classroom has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic. “That social regulation of how to really deal with your emotions and how do you manage them has been missed when you’re not in a classroom on a regular basis,” Fallis said. She said during the years of remote learning, there was no sense of consistency, rules, regulations, or what’s expected in a classroom when you’re with 20 other kids. The violence is already taking a toll on staff, Fallis said, with several either leaving the profession or taking a leave. “It’s easier for them to take a sick leave than for them to fight or take a ‘right to refuse dangerous work’ and go through that investigation process,” she said. More teachers, EAs hired in past three years: division WSD Superintendent Matt Henderson was unavailable for an interview, but provided a written statement to CTV News. “Behaviour can often be a child’s way of communicating an unmet need,” he said. “Our job is to listen, understand, and work with families, who know their children best, to find the right supports.” Henderson said over the past three years, the division has hired 300 more teachers and 300 more EAs and expanded training in neurodiversity, low-arousal approaches, and non-violent crisis intervention. Henderson said the division is working to have more EAs classified with specialized training through future collective bargaining. In a statement to CTV News, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said since taking office, the government has hired over 1,600 new educators, with 830 of those being new EAs, clinicians and other educators. “We recognize that there is more work to do, and our government will continue to work with school divisions and community partners to ensure staff and students have the supports they need to feel safe in every school in Manitoba,” the statement reads. Fallis said hiring more staff is only part of the solution. She said there also needs to be more parent involvement and more consequences when violent incidents happen. “If a student throws a water bottle at a teacher’s head in the morning, why are they back in the classroom a half an hour later,” she said. “Just some actual action when this happens and real consequences for students to help them learn what’s expected in the classroom and how they can regulate their emotions.”
