The Surrey District Parent Advisory Council has created a tool to help keep track of “a largely invisible form of exclusion in public schools.”
The Surrey DPAC, with the support of the Surrey Teachers’ Association and CUPE 78, has launched a Room Clear Tracker that can be used by every school district across B.C.
A room clear happens in schools when a student is in crisis and their behaviour has escalated to the point where they might be putting themselves or other students at risk.. The teacher will remove the remaining students from the classroom for their safety.
The Surrey DPAC says this often can signal gaps in support for students with complex needs and supports that may not be available.
“Community Inclusion Month is meant to celebrate the full participation of people with disabilities,” Anne Whitmore, president of Surrey DPAC, said in a statement.
“Yet in our schools, exclusion is happening daily and is usually unseen and uncounted. When a classroom is cleared, every student experiences exclusion, including the one whose stress response led to the incident. We need transparency to understand the scale of this problem and take action.”
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The Surrey DPAC said room clears are not formally tracked by the Ministry of Education or by most school districts across B.C.
The Room Clear Tracker can be filled out online.
“Teachers see the toll this takes on every learner,” Amrit Sanghe, president of the Surrey Teachers’ Association, said.
“A room clear represents a system that has run out of options, not a child who has run out of chances. We need smaller classes, more supports, and the resources to create real inclusion in practice.”
The partners emphasize that this initiative is not about assigning blame to students. It is about making the invisible visible and ensuring that Community Inclusion Month is not simply a celebration, but a call to action.
B.C.’s Education Minister Lisa Beare said the goal is to make sure every child is safe and can learn.
“We all wanna keep kids safe in classrooms, this is why we at the ministry have provided record levels of funding for districts, including Surrey. Year over year, they get over a billion dollars in funding this year, along, we expect districts to staff their classrooms accordingly,” she said.
Beare said the Surrey School District ended up with a surplus last year and the district has to make those choices accordingly.
“We want to make sure everyone is staffed at the appropriate level to provide those supports,” she added.
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