With nearly a thousand more students expected in the fall, the Surrey School District is going on a hiring blitz.
The school board has approved the hiring of 66 new teachers, 24 education assistants and 28 additional support staff to help with the new 850 students expected this September.
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Trustee Terry Allen said the district will be looking at recruitment across the country as teacher shortage continues to be an issue in B.C.
“It’s very difficult now,” Allen said. “We’re going back to the universities and saying, ‘We can take as many qualified teachers as you can provide us with,’ and probably 10 years ago we were asking the universities not to do that.”
The district will also be hiring a new school administrator.
Allen said more students will also mean more portable classrooms, “in a district that grows as fast as Surrey, portables are a way of life.”
Operating costs for the 2018/2019 school year are expected to rise by about $15 million for the district.
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