Sarah G.
Outcome — April 30, 2026
Outcome reached.
On April 30, 2026, the Province committed to fund the full $9.4M arbitration cost. The specific ask of this campaign is resolved.
This was a campaign about a specific, structural failure: a provincial bargaining body misinterpreted Burnaby's contract, and the cost was being passed to local classrooms. That's now been corrected.
Burnaby DPAC continues its broader work on chronic underfunding — their May 1 Day of Action is still on, and that work is distinct from but complementary to this campaign's specific ask.
What we built here — the data, the framework, the coalition of parents who showed up — doesn't disappear. We're thinking about what comes next.
376 / 2,000
verified Burnaby parents have signed ?
Founded by Ben Zhou , Burnaby parent · founder, Expeta Technologies · About this campaign
Showing 20 most recent · 376 total verified signatures
Amelia L.
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Joshua P.
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XiaoY X.
Nanett M.
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Sarha M.
April W.
Justin J.
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Why this is solvable today
Three facts that change the conversation.
- 01
BCPSEA admits this is their interpretive error.
The BC Public School Employers' Association bargains on behalf of every BC school district. An arbitrator ruled that beginning teachers in Burnaby were placed one step too low on the salary grid as of July 1, 2022. SD41 was not a party to that negotiation. SD41 has publicly acknowledged the costs would have been fully funded had BCPSEA interpreted the agreement correctly. As Board Chair Kristin Schnider put it: "We're not asking for a bailout. This follows provincial bargaining framework and we're asking the government to uphold their end." The cost landed on Burnaby — and only Burnaby — because of a provincial-level interpretive failure.
Source: SD41 official statement
- 02
Burnaby has no cushion left.
In 2025-26, SD41 cut $4.2 million — high school counsellors, custodial staff, the Grade 7 band program serving 1,200 students, advanced learning, and Mandarin. Unrestricted reserves sit at $4.3 million. The arbitration liability is more than double that. "Doing more with less" has already been done. What comes next is cutting from the bone.
- 03
Budget 2026 reserved $5 billion a year for exactly this.
The Contingencies Vote in Budget 2026 is explicitly described as covering "caseload pressures, current collective bargaining mandate costs, and other costs that are uncertain at the time of building the budget." The $9.4M Burnaby liability is almost verbatim a collective bargaining mandate cost. It represents 0.19% of the annual Contingencies Vote. The money exists. What remains is the decision to apply it.
Source: BC Budget 2026 (Contingencies Vote, Estimates Vote 50)
Pick your child's grade
What this looks like for your child.
Each row is a service. Each column is a grade. Pick your child's grade below to see exactly what they lose.
Currently available (after last year's cuts) Already cut last year At risk if not funded Eliminated or near-zero
My child is in Grade:
Pick your child's grade to see what they specifically lose.
Already eliminated for your child
Already cut last year
At risk if not funded
Still available (for now)
See full grade-by-grade table
← swipe to see all grades →
| Service | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classroom EA (support aide) Without EA hours: your child's teacher splits attention 28 ways instead of having a second adult in the room. Students with IEPs feel it first. Then everyone feels it. | |||||||||||||
| Elementary counsellor When your Grade 3 starts having anxiety attacks at drop-off: you can talk to the teacher, but there's no one trained to actually help. The crisis becomes a referral. The referral has a 6-month wait. | |||||||||||||
| High school counsellor When your Grade 11 needs help with university applications: 1 counsellor, 400 students, 6-week wait. Your child's UBC application is thinner than it should be — not because they're less capable, but because no one had time. | |||||||||||||
| Grade 7 band program 1,200 students lost this in 2025-26. Feeder programs into high school music are now broken. If your child plays an instrument, the path forward got harder. | |||||||||||||
| Mandarin language program Burnaby's Mandarin program was a competitive advantage for university applications and dual-language fluency. Already reduced in 2025-26 at the elementary level. Further cuts mean your child won't have this option even if they want it. | |||||||||||||
| Advanced / enrichment learning How strong students build the academic profile that gets them into UBC's selective programs, scholarships, and specialty admissions. Already cut for 2025-26 (MACC, Grades 4-7; BETA Mini at Alpha Secondary, Grades 8-12). Without enrichment, top students sit in undifferentiated classes for 12 years. | |||||||||||||
| Teacher-librarian time When your child needs to learn how to research, evaluate sources, and write a real paper: a teacher-librarian is who teaches that. Without one: your child enters Grade 11 having never been taught research literacy. | |||||||||||||
| High school electives Specialty sciences, arts streams, language options. The classes that make your child's transcript distinctive. When course allocations drop, electives go first. Your Grade 12's transcript starts looking like everyone else's. | |||||||||||||
| Daily cleaning & upkeep Bathrooms cleaned every other day. Spills wait. Repair tickets sit for weeks. Your elementary child's school physically gets worse every term until something breaks. (25-26 cut hit elementary specifically; secondary unaffected.) | |||||||||||||
| Class size & composition 32 kids in a Grade 4 class instead of 24. Three students with IEPs, one with severe anxiety, one English language learner — and one teacher. Every child gets less of the teacher's attention. The students with the most needs get the least support. |
Sources for every cell — verify any claim →
- $9.4M arbitration liability + BCPSEA misinterpretation + Q3 reserve impact ($4.3M would-have-been → $4.8M arbitration draw → $2,712 remaining) + 3-year fund balance projection (-$6.3M by 2028/29) — SD41 2026-27 Preliminary Budget Report (FINAL, PDF), pages 18–21 · SD41 Official Statement (Apr 15 2026)
- $4.2M cuts in 2025-26 (36.86 FTE) — Elementary Band, Elementary Custodial, Counselling, Mandarin Program, MACC, BETA Mini, Library Assistants — SD41 2025/26 Operating Budget Presentation (PDF), page 13
- Grade 7 band eliminated in all 41 elementary schools — ~1,200 students — CBC News (Music education advocates...) · SD41 2025/26 Operating Budget Presentation (PDF), p.13 (line 'Elementary Band 4.30 / $515,528')
- EAs uniquely vulnerable (no legal minimum) — up to 259 positions could be cut if $9.4M not funded; class size +2 students/class scenario; 45 secondary counsellors / 27,000 students — Burnaby DPAC Fact Sheet (PDF), pages 2–3
- $5B Contingencies Vote covering 'caseload pressures, current collective bargaining mandate costs and other costs uncertain at the time of building the budget' — BC Budget 2026 — Fiscal Plan (Expense outlook section)
Cell colours reflect documented current state. Cells marked with ? indicate a conditional claim (e.g. 'at risk if $9.4M not funded'); hover the cell to see the source and assumption.
Find your angle
Three short paths into the same case.
Your child's journey · K to 12
A cut today becomes a crisis at graduation.
Last year vs. this year
Last year's cuts were real. This year is 2.2× worse.
Sign-up closed
The specific ask is resolved. Thank you for showing up.
On April 30, 2026, the Province committed to fund the full $9.4M arbitration cost. We've stopped accepting new signatures.
What signers sent — the letter on record →
Subject: Please fund Burnaby's $9.4M arbitration from Budget 2026 Contingencies
Dear Minister Beare, I am writing as a parent of a student at [School] in Burnaby School District 41. My child is in Grade [Grade], and I live at postal code [Postal code]. I am asking the Province to fully fund the $9.4 million arbitration liability facing SD41 by drawing on the $5 billion Contingencies Vote in Budget 2026. The budget documents explicitly describe that allocation as covering "current collective bargaining mandate costs" — which is precisely what this liability is. Three reasons this matters: 1. The cost is not SD41's fault. BCPSEA has publicly acknowledged that the cost would have been fully funded in 2022 had they correctly interpreted the salary grid. SD41 was not a party to that negotiation. 2. The district has no cushion left. Last year, SD41 cut $4.2 million from the operating budget, including counsellors, custodians, the Grade 7 band program affecting 1,200 students, and advanced learning programs. Unrestricted reserves sit at roughly $4.3 million — less than half the arbitration liability. 3. This is a specific funding source, not a general ask. The $5 billion Contingencies Vote exists precisely for costs like this — unforeseen, arising from collective bargaining, uncertain at budget time. $9.4M represents 0.19% of that allocation. In your April 22, 2026 reply to Burnaby DPAC Chair Paul Kwon, you wrote: "we anticipate this issue will be resolved in the coming weeks." SD41 adopts its budget on May 27, 2026 — resolution must come before that date, not after. I would appreciate a written response on whether the Province will fund the $9.4M from the Contingencies Vote before SD41 adopts its budget on May 27, 2026. Sincerely, [Signer first name] [Signer last name] Parent, [School] Postal code: [Postal code] — Full case, primary sources, and the public list of Burnaby parents who have written: https://fundburnabykids.ca Burnaby DPAC (the elected institutional voice for SD41 parents) publishes the comprehensive Parent Explainer at: https://dpac.burnabypac.ca
Public accountability
Where each representative stands.
We track public statements only — no party attribution, no intent. Status changes only when there's a citable public source.
Hon. Lisa Beare
Minister of Education and Child Care
Awaiting reply
Hon. Brenda Bailey
Minister of Finance
Awaiting reply
Anne Kang
Burnaby Centre
Awaiting reply
View constituent letters → Rohini Arora
Burnaby East
Awaiting reply
View constituent letters → Raj Chouhan
Burnaby-New Westminster
Awaiting reply
View constituent letters → Awaiting reply
View constituent letters → Awaiting reply
View constituent letters → Awaiting reply (no public position yet) Acknowledged (received, no position) Publicly committed to the ask Publicly opposed
Coalition partners
Parent Advisory Councils backing this ask.
2 PACs · representing 471 students
No PACs have endorsed yet — your school's PAC could be the first.
Montecito Elementary
264 students
Endorsed Apr 28, 2026
Gilpin Elementary
207 students
Are you on a PAC executive?
Open the endorsement kit. It's a 2-page document with the standard motion text, talking points for skeptical PAC members, and a one-form submit. We verify every endorsement personally — usually within 24 hours.
About this campaign
Ben Zhou
Burnaby parent · founder, Expeta Technologies
Burnaby parent of two daughters at SD41 schools.
I started this campaign after reading the BCPSEA arbitration ruling and the BC Budget 2026 documents in full. The funding mechanism exists in the Contingencies Vote; the application is the missing piece.
Day job: founder of Expeta Technologies, a Burnaby-based research company studying how humans hold up under pressure. The same analytical habits applied to budget documents and arbitration filings.
Available to brief PACs, journalists, or MLA offices on the documents directly.
Burnaby Kids First
Parent-led, non-partisan, Burnaby-only
Burnaby Kids First is the parent-led coalition behind this campaign. It exists to give Burnaby parents a durable, non-partisan voice on issues affecting local children — from school budgets today to whatever comes next: class sizes, seismic upgrades, mental health support, playground and transportation safety, after-school access.
Campaigns come and go. The coalition persists. If you've signed this petition, you're already part of it.
Common questions
Before you sign — what people ask.
Is my personal information safe?
We take the minimum information needed and show even less publicly. Collected: first name, last name (or initial), email, school, grade, postal code, plus your three consent choices. Publicly displayed: first name + last initial + school + neighbourhood (derived from first 3 digits of postal code, never the full code). Your email and full postal code are never shown. Collection and use are governed by BC's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). You can request full deletion at any time by replying to any email from us. We retain consent records for three years per CRTC guidance, then delete them. We never sell, trade, or share your data with any third party. Hosting is in Canada.
Who runs this? Is it DPAC or the school district?
This site was founded and is operated by Ben Zhou, a Burnaby parent with two daughters and founder of Expeta Technologies (a Burnaby-based research company). Ben takes full public responsibility for this campaign, including strategy, content, and operations. See the About section for more. Fund Burnaby Kids is the current campaign of Burnaby Kids First — a parent-led coalition built to give Burnaby parents a durable voice on issues affecting local children. Fund Burnaby Kids is urgent and specific ($9.4M, by May 27). Burnaby Kids First is the longer-term coalition that will exist after this campaign ends. Burnaby DPAC (District Parent Advisory Council) is the elected institutional voice for parents across all 41 SD41 schools and has been organizing on this issue since April 2026 — their Parent Explainer is the most comprehensive single document on the case. This campaign supports DPAC's advocacy by adding signature collection and one-click constituent email on top of their broader work; we don't replace it. School-level PAC endorsements submitted through the form on this site appear in the Coalition section as they join (DPAC operates through its own institutional channel and is not on that list by design). No public funds are used. No political party is endorsed. No candidate is named.
- Burnaby DPAC main page — central hub for DPAC's campaign + executive contact
- DPAC Parent Explainer (PDF, 9 pages) — the authoritative document on the SD41 funding case — recommended reading
What does it mean when a PAC joins the coalition?
A PAC joining means the PAC has passed a motion at one of its meetings endorsing this campaign's ask (fund the $9.4M from the Contingencies Vote). The PAC's name and school appear publicly on this page. The PAC does not give up any independence, contribute any money, endorse any political party, or take on any legal liability. It is a public endorsement of a specific ask — nothing more. If you are a PAC chair and want to propose this at your next meeting, see the PAC Endorsement Kit — we've written the motion wording, the briefing, and an FAQ so you don't have to start from scratch.
Will sending an email really change anything?
Ministerial Correspondence Units sort incoming mail by postal code. When Burnaby MLAs receive dozens of identical-subject emails in the same week from their own constituents, that becomes a political signal that reaches caucus. The Province has already confirmed they are "actively engaged" on this file — that means the decision is open. The petition serves a different purpose: it creates a named collective object that can be printed, counted, and physically delivered. Emails are volume; petitions are weight. We need both.
Can I sign without sending an email?
Yes. Uncheck the third box in the consent section before submitting. Your name will still appear on the petition. We recommend doing both — they reach different parts of government — but signing alone is fully valid.
What about CASL — do your emails comply?
CASL covers "commercial electronic messages." Political advocacy emails fall outside that definition (see Industry Canada guidance and leading non-profit legal analysis). Even so, we follow CASL best practice: we obtain express opt-in consent for updates, every email has a one-click unsubscribe, every email identifies us with a physical address, and we honour unsubscribes within 10 days — well under the statutory requirement.
Who sees my email after I sign?
When you click "Open my pre-filled email," your email client (Apple Mail, Gmail, Outlook) opens with the recipients, subject, and body already filled in. You review and click send — from your own account. We never see the email leave your machine, and we never receive a copy. The Ministry and MLAs see the letter came from your personal address, which is what makes it a constituent letter.