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Teachers, staff and parents urge levy, fair contracts amid staffing and workload strains
Summary
Dozens who spoke during public comment told the Brainerd Public Schools board that unresolved contract negotiations, rising workloads and shrinking staffing threaten retention and student supports; many urged placing an operating levy on the ballot to share costs with the community.
Dozens of district employees, parents and students used the board’s public-comment period to press the Brainerd Public Schools board to resolve stalled contract talks and to consider an operating levy this fall.
Teachers and support staff described heavy caseloads, rising class sizes and deteriorating morale. Speech-language pathologist Suzanne Lockan said she had up to 61 students on her caseload this year and participated in 73 evaluations, calling the volume “not sustainable.” Special-education teacher Rebecca Dee described level‑three classroom duties and urged the board to “invest our financial resources in the people who have the most direct impact on our students.”
Several speakers framed a local operating levy as a community choice to share the cost of education rather than leaving burdens on staff and families. Parent Danielle Addison said a levy would “give the broader community the chance to vote to share that weight.” Ed Shaw likewise urged the board to let voters decide on funding to avoid deep cuts.
Other commenters summarized concrete impacts: teachers reporting regular classroom sizes above 30, chronic absenteeism in middle‑school classes (one teacher noted 17 students missing 15–20 days, some over 50), and education assistants and nurses describing health-insurance deductibles and financial strain for frontline staff.
Union leadership also addressed the board: Misty Job, president of Education Minnesota Brainer, said bargaining has been unusually contentious and noted the district’s decision last year not to put an operating levy before voters had left funding pressure concentrated on employees.
Board members heard the comments without taking action during the meeting; several said they expect administration to return with concrete fiscal options and community engagement plans at the June work session.
The public-comment record closes as the board continues contract talks with multiple bargaining groups and weighs both internal cuts and possible ballot measures.
