Surrey could phase out traditional schools as it grapples with surging enrolment – BC [Video]

The Surrey School District is mulling another major change as it grapples with ongoing overcrowding.

Faced with soaring enrollment and not enough class space, the district is considering turning its three public traditional schools into regular elementary schools.

But parents of students in the schools say they’re worried about losing an education resource they love.

The traditional schools, which have long wait lists, uniform dress codes and smaller class sizes provide what’s described as a “research-based teaching practice.”

Surrey Board of Education vice-chair Gary Tymoschuk said the district is considering the move because it just doesn’t have enough class space for all the district’s students.

Surrey is already B.C.’s most populous school district and is already home to about 360 portables.

“Over the last number of years, we’ve seen horrendous growth (in) the number of students coming into our district year over year,” Tymoschuk said.

“The last two years it …