Parents and advocates in Surrey gathered at Earl Marriott Secondary School on Saturday to demand action from the provincial government to reduce overcrowding in the city's schools.
Surrey is growing quickly, but parents say its schools aren't keeping up.
"Our computer room is now lo longer a computer room, it is in fact being used as a classroom," said Karen Tan with the Surrey District Parent's Advisory Council
Eka Sidhu, whose daughter is in grade 4, has felt the sting of overcrowding at their school, too. She says their school no longer has a track program because portables now take up the field.
"There are portables on the playground areas where children should be playing," she said.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner says the situation has reached crisis point.
The district has 325 portables and is adding new 1,200 students every year.
Thousands of families are moving into Surrey, attracted by lower housing prices. Anita Huberman, the CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, says 1,000 new people are moving to Surrey every month.
She says Surrey's infrastructure—its schools—can't keep up.
"When we're looking at supporting business and looking at our human capital needs, we want our kids to be educated in schools," she said.
The BC NDP promised new schools during the election campaign, but so far haven't announced specifics.
The Surrey Schools Coalition wants the province to follow Surrey District's five year capital plan, fast track school building projects and give money to the school district immediately.
Tan says the province needs to act soon.
"We still have lots of room to grow and if we don't build schools now we're just not going to catch up," she said.
With a report from Breanna Karstens-Smith
