Overcrowding continues unabated at many Surrey schools

Frank Bucholtz photo
Plans for 136 new homes across the street from the new Clayton North secondary will be discussed at a public hearing held by Surrey council this month. The Clayton area has a severe shortage of classroom space for students.

Surrey schools expect to have an extra 1,000 students in the classrooms when school began on Tuesday.

As challenging as that is, even more challenges are coming. Development is continuing at a frenetic pace, despite a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax which seems to be addressed more towards Vancouver, the North Shore and Richmond.

There are a number of signs of real estate activity slowing down in those markets, but many people continue to buy homes in Surrey for the simple reason that it is more affordable. If all the development proposals now in the planning stages go ahead, the school district will have several thousand more students in the next few years.

Longtime trustee Laurae McNally points to a proposed development in Clayton, just across the street from the new Clayton North high school that will open in a year’s time. Properties that now are home to about 14 families have been assembled, with a development of 131 detached homes planned. The estimate is that 136 students will live in that development when it is complete.

Meanwhile, the three elementary schools and one secondary in Clayton are filled far beyond capacity. While there are plans for new schools in the area, notably the new high school and one additional elementary, there isn’t even enough room for any more portables at Clayton Elementary, the school closest to the proposed development. It is also quite likely that the large property adjacent to the school will be developed.

McNally is irked because Mayor Linda Hepner said the city will propose a “made in Surrey” policy to address school capital funding issues. While that was promised months ago, it is far from complete and isn’t likely to be unveiled until sometime in October.

“Don’t hold your breath waiting for that,” said McNally, who has been on the board of education for more than 30 years. She has seen many suggestions from other levels of government for improvements to the way school capital funding is allocated come and go.

The board of education did get the city’s attention when it suggested in the spring that development be halted in three areas of the city, including Clayton, until there is committed funding to build new schools or additions in those areas. A 287-unit development in one of those areas, at 152 Street and Panorama Drive, has since been approved by council.

Premier Christy Clark has also said the current funding model may not work well in Surrey. However, her government had not responded with a suggested improvement – even though, over the summer,  it has rolled out plans to keep small rural schools open and to assist school districts with transportation costs.

It is possible that the province has some more specific plans to help ease the pressure on Surrey schools. Clark’s announcement of funding to build 2,700 new student spaces in May was welcome, but it is nowhere nearly enough to meet the current enrolment, let alone what’s coming down the pipeline.

Education Minister Mike Bernier is well aware of the problem. However, the province has many pressing issues it is dealing with, among them housing and transportation. And education will only get so much financial attention.

NDP leader John Horgan was in Surrey on Aug. 30, calling for complete elimination of all portable classrooms within four years. He suggested the province dip into its rainy day fund to quickly build new classroom spaces in Surrey.

A more sustainable long-term solution is for the province to recognize that it needs to take a different approach to school construction in areas with growing school-age populations, such as many parts of Surrey and a few other areas in nearby districts.

Meanwhile, the schools will be even more crowded this school year, and more students will keep arriving on their doorsteps.