'We're a second thought': Surrey parents exhausted as more school programs, services being cut
A budget crunch at the Surrey school district is going to mean service cuts in the 2024-25 school year.
Without additional funding in their operating grants to offset costs, the district said programs or services not funded by the province will be scrapped.
Buses for students in the intensive literacy program will also end, as will two out of 25 StrongStart programs. StrongStart is a free early education program for children five and under, especially supporting low-income families or those new to Canada.
"Lots of things that we hold dear, we are having to make those kinds of cuts that we’ve never had to do in the past," explained board trustee Terry Allen.
Allen said the upcoming budget is the most difficult one the district has had to pass in over a decade, with inflation, staffing shortages and Surrey's rising population all playing a role.
“Everybody understands inflation, I don’t understand why the ministry does not,” said Allen.
Anne Whitmore is the Surrey District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) president. She and other parents are exhausted fighting for what, at times, feels like a lost cause.
“It’s not OK that unpaid parents, volunteers, and advocates are continually trying to go to meetings and understand the implications of a very large organization," Whitmore said.
Non-enrolling staff, including career facilitators and transition teachers, will be moving to the classroom and the district is putting a hiring freeze on office positions.
"It's just poaching – you take a little bit here and put it there, but it doesn’t actually fix anything. Inclusive education must be funded and that is not happening," said Jatinder Bir, the president of the Surrey Teachers Association.
Bir says she feels as though education and the dire situation in Surrey is not being taken seriously.
“We’re a second thought. The reality is if we want to have quality education, then we have to invest that money. In Surrey, we have been flagging it over and over again. This is where the growth is.”
With no new schools approved for Clayton and Cloverdale, portables are needed, but the district doesn’t have money in the operating budget to pay for them.
"We don’t have the space – 2,500 new students every year just puts more and more strain on the district," said Allen.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ambassador says interactions with Russia 'quite limited' but 'not unfriendly'
Canada's ambassador to Russia says while Ottawa has 'grave concerns' about the Kremlin's 'longer-term trends,' the war in Ukraine is 'a primary barrier to a change in the relationship.'
Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
Lanny McDonald and a few old Flames take the Stanley Cup on a surprise visit to the man who saved his life
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s two children in jury decision
Jurors resumed deliberations Saturday on whether a man should be sentenced to death after being convicted days earlier of the murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children in Idaho.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months
'It feels like freedom': Why some Albertans like going nude in nature
Few people can say they accidentally purchased a nude beach — but Shelley can. When she saw a piece of land she could fondly remember camping on was up for sale, she inquired about it and ended up purchasing it. She soon found that there were already inhabitants on it.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
China lands spacecraft on the moon amid growing space rivalry with U.S.
A Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon Sunday to collect soil and rock samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.