Halt development for sake of education, says Surrey trustee Laurae McNally

While it's unclear how successful a Surrey school board trustee will be in halting development until more schools can be built, residents in the Clayton, Grandview/South Surrey and South Newton neighbourhoods agree that schools are struggling to keep up with an influx of students.

"You can see — it even the new portables are over run already," said father and local resident Jessie Bray. "What it is, is too much, too soon."

He's talking about the rapid development and subsequent population growth in his area; entire neighbourhoods popping up where there used to be just wild areas. Nearly 300 portables are in use in the district, which has more than 70,000 students.

"The provincial government wants to see the whites of children's eyes before they approve anything," said Laurae McNally, who was first elected to Surrey's Board of Education in 1980. "So we wait until kids are in the portables and we can prove the children are there or we don't get approvals."

McNally has a motion before Surrey's city council, which was passed unanimously by trustees, urging it to temporarily suspend all new development approvals until the district receives more provincial capital funding.

Surrey council has said it will meet with the school district next month, while Education Minister Mike Bernier has issued a statement on the issue.

"My ministry is working closely with the Surrey district to find ways to deal with the intense pressures from growth," it said. "As we move forward, Surrey and other districts experiencing growth will be a priority for future capital investments."

"We keep hearing, we know it's growing and that announcements are imminent and we wait," said McNally, adding another 1,000 new students are expected to register with the district for the coming fall.

Erin Folk just registered his son Hank in pre-school, but he's already concerned about where his son will receive his education a couple years down the line.

"In a few years if they keep going he'll probably be sitting in a portable," he said. "There's a lot of people moving in and not enough schools."

But even concerned parents like Folk and Bray say they're uncertain if McNally's motion will do anything.

"What do you do, say, 'Shut it down?'" asked Bray. "I mean, there's a lot of money in development. Who's going to stop that?"

with files from Deborah Goble