Editor:
Re: Good news for Surrey students, Nov. 23 column.
It is interesting to see Surrey’s board of education chairperson Shawn Wilson say: “It’s very clear that government is actively trying hard to develop ways to help us find capital…. I think if we manage things a bit better and cut through the red tape” there would be improvement.
I think the staff of Surrey School District have done an excellent job of managing ‘things’ over the years, and there is no question the students and families of Surrey deserve capital funding now, as they did 10, 15 and 20 years ago.
I could go on, but this provincial government and the ones that came before them have not given Surrey School District what they need, and it is now a game of catch-up.
The trustees have been asking for new schools for years, and it is time the trustees took a stand. Yes, the district is caught in the middle of the development-at-all-costs council and the make-money-for-the-rich provincial government, but it is time trustees made real noise on behalf of 71,000-and-counting students.
If and when there is a ‘new plan’, as Wilson hopes, it will be heavily weighted on the value that the BC Liberals have on the MLA seats they currently hold in Surrey, and if they think they require more.
It is so unfortunate that the education of our children, our future, is used in this political game.
The district has played the game set out by the ministry very well. As trustee Laurae McNally states, the game changes regularly. They have moved and reduced choice programs, changed boundaries of overcrowded schools, disrupting many along the way, all in the name of making neighbourhood schools accessible for neighbourhood students.
I fully support neighbourhood schools for neighbourhood students, but the question is, with the never-ending problem of overcrowded schools, do the trustees and staff really think that it is a reality?
Charlene Dobie, Surrey