Surrey school board votes to extend days at some high schools
CBC
Thousands of high school students in Surrey will either have to wake up earlier or stay at school later come September.
The Surrey Board of Education says it plans to extend school hours at several secondary schools next year to combat overcrowding in the fast-growing district's classrooms.
The plan, passed by the school board on Wednesday night, will create five instruction blocks during the school day with students either attending periods one through four or coming later for blocks two through five.
Board vice-chair Gary Tymoschuk says the district hasn't decided which schools are affected or exact class times, but it looks as though at least five of Surrey's 15 public high schools will see their hours adjusted to free up about 10 to 15 per cent more student capacity.
"It's a little bit of a first step [to] give us a little bit of breathing room to see what's going to happen in the coming years," said Tymoshuk in a Thursday interview with CBC News.
The Surrey school district says it saw an average of 2,400 new students join annually over the last two years, which is triple the 800 new students per year it says it counted in the previous decade.
All but two of the district's 15 high schools are operating above capacity, many of them using portable classrooms Tymoschuk called "Band-Aid solutions."
The board estimates the plan will cost an additional $65,000 to staff services like libraries for longer hours and about $280,000 in additional bussing services.
The school district and board of education, Surrey Teachers' Association and parents have called for the government to build more schools and hire more staff to address rising enrolment they say is only expected to grow when the Surrey SkyTrain expansion is complete.
"The provincial government just isn't providing new schools for our districts. We're running out of space and the portables are not the answer," said Tymoschuk.
Education and Child Care Minister Rachna Singh was not available for an interview before publication.
In a statement Thursday, Singh's ministry said the province has approved approximately $750 million to create more than 12,400 new student seats in Surrey since 2017.
Two new secondary schools — Grandview Heights and Salish Secondary — and an addition at Sullivan Heights have opened, and there are more additions on the way at three other secondary schools, the province said.
Construction is also underway on two new elementary schools and two more are being expanded, according to the statement.
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