If your family moves right across the street from either Lord Tweedsmuir or Sullivan Heights secondary schools, guess what? There’s a good chance your child won’t be going there.
Not even if he or she can see the school from your kitchen window while they eat breakfast.
That’s because in-catchment enrolment has been capped at those schools.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new but the appalling situation is getting worse every year.
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Here’s what we know.
The Surrey school district is expecting another 1,000 students, including about 300 Syrian refugees.
It is starting the school year with about 275 portables.
And nobody is taking responsibility. The province, while ultimately being responsible for funding new schools, won’t cough up enough cash for what’s needed.
Meanwhile, city council blames the province but they’re the ones rubber stamping all the developments that created this mess in the first place.
And they show no signs of slowing down – even in the face of unprecedented public opposition, as we recently saw in Panorama Ridge. In that community, where schools are already overflowing, council just gave the green light to a 287-unit development, even though residents practically pleaded with them to say no.
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So we hope your children like learning in portables – and we hope they like walking.
Because chances are, they’re going to be doing a lot of both.
The Now