Editor,
My teenage granddaughter is a high-functioning kid with autism.
She struggles in public school and life in general, due to a lack of social skill, her unwanted gift from the autism spectrum. She has tried multiple public schools along with private counselling to learn and adapt to society, without success.
Having enrolled in the White Rock Learning Centre (WRLC) for one year, she blossomed: intellectually, emotionally and psychologically, as did her brother (with his own demons) who, successfully graduated from the same school in 2023.
The WRLC is an off-campus division and creation of the Surrey school board.
The school board wants to save costs and relocate their learning centres into public high schools; likely portables, on already over-capacity high school grounds.
Cost saving is important; however, high school grounds are fraught with issues. Public school grounds can be a social cesspool, especially for kids like my granddaughter, who thrive in the safe environment of a Learning Centre.
These kids do not prosper in public, private or charter schools. If they do not have a separate facility, they will be bullied, tormented and ostracized. They will drop out from mainstream campuses and, eventually, become a cost to society.
This is a "pay now or, pay later" situation for our community and society.
Craig Marshall, Surrey
