Surrey schools feeling the squeeze as student enrolment soars

The number of students in B.C. schools is growing exponentially, and education officials in the province’s largest school district are sounding the alarm about where all the kids are going to learn.

Last year, there were 900 new students projected to start the school year in Surrey, but the estimates were incorrect as more than 2,200 new students actually enrolled.

This year, the school district is projecting about 2,500 new students in its classrooms but the figures won’t be finalized until later this month.

“I think about 2,500 is where we’re going to land,” Gary Tymoschuk, a Surrey School Board trustee, told Global News.

“It’ll mean lots of challenges in terms of more teachers hired and finding the classroom space, which means more portables.”

Adding portables might create more room but the strain on other facilities remains high.

“On the gymnasium, the labs, the cafeteria is massive, and so it’s actually extremely worrying for the school district,” Terry Allen, another Surrey School Board trustee, said.

5:20 Surrey superintendent on issues the district is facing this new school year

Surrey is not the only school district with this issue, however.

Between 2015 and 2018, there were 7,000 new students across the province. But between 2021 and 2025, that’s projected to increase to 37,000, and if there are 30 new students per classroom, that’s an additional 1,200 new classrooms needed.

Rachna Singh, B.C.’s education minister, said Tuesday that the province is looking at other ideas, but concrete plans remain up in the air.

“We can reduce the timelines to build the schools or expand the school,” she said. “Also looking at from a more proactive angle how we can secure land beforehand.”