P3s floated as a possible solution to Surrey's overcrowded schools crisis

Surrey's schools are so overcrowded, the city says it could be time to look to the private sector for money to build new ones.

In a new report, Surrey's general manager of planning and development, Jean Lamontagne, says there is an immediate need for 2,900 new student spaces in the city.

Education advocates say the number is actually much higher.

Lamontagne says public-private partnerships could be explored as an option to build new schools in the city to help meet the demand.

"This process used in other jurisdictions in Canada would provide an opportunity for the private sector to design, build, finance and operate new schools within a time-specific contract, after which the province would have the choice of purchasing the asset or not," Lamontagne wrote in the report.

"This funding model would provide an opportunity for the district and the province (once a school has reached the contractual time limits as set out in the original P3 contract) to review school enrolment within catchment and make investment or divestment decisions, where sites could remain school sites or be considered for redevelopment by the private sector."

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner says something needs to be done immediately to address overcrowded classrooms.

"I think that anything is on the table for a discussion on fast-growing areas," she said.

"We have included all sorts of opportunities in that report for financially constrained times, for how you can still advance schools. "

Lamontagne also suggests changing the funding formula for new schools so that growth projections are taken into account.

"Slippery slope"

Education advocate and Surrey parent Cindy Dalglish agrees that overcrowding has reached a crisis level in Surrey.

However, she isn't convinced P3 deals are the best solution.

"I feel like the city is looking at some very different measures and thinking outside the box, which is always welcome," she said.

"The P3 model itself is a bit nerve wracking in terms of what does that mean down the line for the city and for the province? It can potentially be a slippery slope, so if we do have someone come on board and build a school on behalf of the city and the province, will the expectation be that the funding will no longer be there later on?"

The Surrey Teachers' Association is opposed to P3s to pay for public education.

"Strong, stable and improved public funding for public education, that's what's needed in B.C.," said STA president Gioia Breda.

"That is what the province should be committing to, and it has the money to do it."