Number of students in Surrey school district continues to grow

SURREY (NEWS 1130) – While the school year is winding down, work behind the scenes at BC’s largest school district is going into high gear to prepare for September.

But efforts to bring in new portables and find new teachers for the Surrey school district won’t be as hectic as last year. Because of the new classroom rules that took effect last year, the district needed 50 new portables and 100 new teachers.

The school district’s Doug Strachan says only a handful of new portables will be needed this year, thanks to the opening of a new school.

“There will be 16 portables freed up from Lord Tweedsmuir secondary and Clayton Heights secondary because of the opening of Salish Secondary this fall. We will be moving those portables to places where they are needed.”

Some 60 new teachers are being hired, but Strachan says they’re a well-oiled machine when it comes to keeping up with a growing student body.

“We have gotten pretty good at the recruitment process because we have been growing for twenty years and have had to hire throughout that time.”

Plus he says it helps that homes are more affordable in Surrey than they are in Vancouver, where it’s been difficult to recruit teachers.

But as usual, he says they will be looking to beef up the numbers of teachers-on-call and instructors with specialities in special needs, French Immersion and child psychology.

Over 800 students will be added to the system in September, bringing the total enrolment to 72,000.