Parents in Surrey are raising concerns that the closure of a specialized school program could put some of the region’s most vulnerable students at risk.
The Surrey School District is planning to close the South Surrey-White Rock Learning Centre at the end of the school year.
The education centre provides an alternative learning program for students who have struggled in mainstream schools.
“Everybody was safe. And you weren’t just a number,” explained former student Maya Seneger.
“In a lot of the other public schools you’re in these giant buildings, you’re just a number migrating through a building that nobody thinks other than your grades to look at.”
The prospect of losing the program has parent Shannen Kealy worried about her son’s graduation prospects.
“He is thriving. He is doing really well with the learn-at-your-own-pace option that is offered, he is taking multiple classes, but he can choose what he learns that day,” she said.
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“He has teachers that support him in a smaller classroom environment, but it’s not as structured as the traditional school system, so it really does work well for children who require extra supports.”
The district says the learning centre’s lease expires in June and that the building also needs renovation.
Surrey School Board Chair Gary Tymoschuk said there simply isn’t the money in the budget to repair the building or to pay higher rent.
“We just do not have the funds available to look at the lease, and we want to make sure we are utilizing the existing space we’ve got within the system to accommodate the students from that learning centre,” he said.
“We fully understand that it’s not the best for all students and for parents, but we are going to make sure that every student has an individual plan … We are going to make sure there are separate classrooms, smaller class sizes, and programming that fits with each individual student.”
The district says students will have the option to transfer to alternative programs at four high schools in South Surrey and White Rock, or to return to their catchment schools.
Tymoschuk said the district would be willing to look at keeping the school open if the province stepped up with more funding.
Education Minister Lisa Beare declined an interview request.
James Johnson, a retired teacher who worked at the school for eight years, said the loss of the school will come at the expense of students.
He said students at the learning centre are grappling with a variety of challenges, from mental health to addiction to poverty to trauma.
“You just don’t get school done when that’s what you are dealing with when you are 14 or 15,” he said.
“We had time and space to deal with that, get the supports that those people needed, and then the learning began, and then school got done, and we graduated a lot of kids out of this school, full Grade 12 graduations.”
He added that having a dedicated facility away from the mainstream school system offered many students the opportunity for a reset, something he fears they will lose when it closes.
Kealy raised similar concerns.
“To lose that, and not know what their future will be, I think a lot of those kids will leave or not follow through with continuing their education,” she said.
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