Editor:
Re: School crunch, Feb. 9.
There are many concerns regarding the idea of extending the school day and very few positives.
The supposed reason is to save money on the cost of portables. The decision appears to be solely about money with little regard for what’s best for students.
The article states there was community consultation. My question is where and when? Parent consultation did not occur. It did not occur for the current EMS students, nor did it occur for the feeder elementary schools. Rather, parents have just been informed of the plan.
The district has obviously been considering this plan for months. If this plan were really good for students and in their best interest, wouldn’t the rest of the secondary schools in the district also be adopting it?
If it is just about overcrowding and portables, the district is very much to blame. Over the past few years, several hundred out-of-catchment student have been allowed to register at EMS to overload the school, creating a better case for the provincial government building a new school. This obviously hasn’t worked.
Typically, schools on extended-day schedules are on it for a short time during construction.
Some of the issues when moving to this model:
• Having 200-300 students not scheduled each block will result in hallway noise, supervision problems and be a significant distraction to the students in class.
• Families with children on both schedules will have to be up earlier and delayed going to work. They will also have to be home earlier.
• Students leaving the property during unscheduled blocks will create more problems. Students skipping class will increase. Residential and business complaints will increase. With different bell schedules, sense of community will fragment; safety will deteriorate.
• Intramurals will not run at lunch, as gyms will be used to teach gym classes. Team practices and activities likely can’t start until after the fifth period, 1½ hours after some students have been dismissed.
• After-school teacher support will be minimized, with some finishing their day early and likely leaving, while others on the late shift will not be available.
• What is the added cost for doubling bus service?
With the ministry providing new portables for full-day kindergarten this September, the district is projected to have a surplus of portables. As a result, the district could move enough portables to the upper field at EMS to accommodate incoming students. This would then alleviate the need to move to an extended day and would still leave the main field for student use.
An alternative is to redraw the catchment boundaries to distribute students more equally across South Surrey.
It is clear disadvantages far outweigh advantages with respect to an extended day. Parents need to get involved if they wish to influence the implementation of this plan.
M. Reynolds, Surrey
• • •
Do we really need to blame Santa?
The decision to create an alternate schedule for students at Earl Marriott and Lord Tweedsmuir secondaries is a shortsighted and pathetic attempt to solve a problem ignored for far too long.
With portables permanently camped out on schools across the city, and with the number increasing every year, who would be surprised to hear space for students far exceeds capacity? It is obvious to anyone driving by any Surrey school that they are busting at their seams.
The Surrey School District has managed to plan for, budget for, and ultimately build a state-of-the-art administration building to stylishly work in.
Why must my daughter work from a humid, disgusting portable in Grade 5, and be faced with going to a high school that has even less room for her? Is the school board really blaming Santa for not dropping “any new schools down the chimney”? Was the school board really “(not) paying attention to” the growth in the community or, was the district too busy meeting their own needs for swanky office space?
Sadly, the future of education in Surrey looks even bleaker. With no hope of new schools any time soon, the district is not only altering school hours to create shifts but is also considering online courses so students can take classes from home and free up more space.
Are you kidding me? Do we really want to socially disconnect our kids from their community? Why not have administrators work from home and fill up their newly built offices with classrooms for actual students?
I always tell my kids you get back what you put in. What exactly are we putting in to the education of our kids?
I always worry about the quality of education my kids receive at school. All parents do.
Clearly, I now worry if there will be an actual school for my kids to learn in.
Amy Klassen, Surrey