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'It's a real tragedy': Community rallies for Surrey learning centre

South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre is expected to close in June

A crowd gathered in front of the South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre on Saturday (Jan. 25) to rally to try and save it from closure.

The lease on the South Surrey White Rock site will expire in June.

According to a previous interview with Surrey school board chair Gary Tymoschuk, the building is in need of renovations and repairs – and with funding being an evergreen issue for the district, Tymoschuk said the cut is necessary.

Students, alumni, parents and supporters spoke Saturday about this school's impact.

"This attempt at saving money is going to cost lives," said event co-organizer Carter Allen, an alumnus of the learning centre.

Many shared how moving from a mainstream school to a learning centre saved their lives.

For Allen and many others, the learning centre was a safe space where they felt understood and supported. The small class sizes gave the teachers the chance to really know the students and learn their stories.

"We have kids here who are working to pay rent for themselves ... and you go put that kid in regular school, their teacher doesn't have the time to learn that story, so that kid doesn't come in on Tuesday because they've got to go to work, now they're getting penalized," Allen said. "Here they know the story, they understand, they work with the kids."

Upon closure, students from the learning centre will get an opportunity to attend an "alternate program" that will be introduced at Earl Marriott, Elgin, Semiahmoo and Grandview Heights secondaries, the four South Surrey high schools.

"So to have the district come and take that away from someone, to have them come and say, 'We can't afford to pay for a safe place for these kids,' I mean, it's a real tragedy," he said.

Desmond Tompkins, alumni and event co-organizer, said "this is an important space, and if it closes, we can't even begin to imagine the negative impacts that will have on lives in our community."

Safe space especially for vulnerable youth

"Lots of marginalized kids come here, kids that are black, Indigenous, people of colour, LGBT, have disabilities, and that really begs the question, why are these the kids that are getting their programs cut? Why are these the kids that are expendable? We have to really look at the priorities of the school district when they say that youth from marginalized communities are not worth the investment," Tompkins added.

The learning centre kids youth a chance "to rebuild their lives, to find their passions, to connect with community and get the support that they're not getting in traditional school environments," Tompkins said.

Current student Spirit Broomfield, 16, said the learning centre is not just about getting an education, as it has helped many students overcome addiction and find healing for trauma.

"It seems the district has forgotten why we go here. We go here to have a safe space. Some of us go here because we have anxiety. Some of us go here because their lives were in danger at mainstream, and some of us go here because we needed a second chance and a fresh start at high school," Broomfield said.

"My mom and dad both went here 20 years ago, and they built a beautiful life for themselves," she said. "It's not about keeping the building in the same spot. It's about having enough safe spaces for kids, and it's about getting the dropout rates to go down."

The closure of the South Surrey White Rock site is part of broader changes to learning centres in the Surrey school district – all being done to manage overcrowding and funding challenges.

Already, Guildford Learning Centre students have joined students at the North Surrey Learning Centre site, which is located at the District Education Centre. As a result, the district is able to cut costs by no longer renting the Guildford location, with the lease having expired on Nov. 30, 2024.

Jim McConnell started teaching at the learning centre in 1991 and later became the principal before retiring. He described the learning centre as a "friendly, nurturing place" where kids thrive. "When the kids say it (the centre) saved their life, they're not kidding," McConnell said.

"There is a population of kids that do not thrive in mainstream school, and there has to be some kind of alternative place for them, and putting them in a portable on the property of a mainstream school is not the answer," McConnell said. "They left that place for a reason to put them back there. You're just re-traumatizing the kids."

Surrey Teachers' Association (STA) president Lizanne Foster said people used to move to Surrey to go to school in the district. "We had given up wages and benefits in the '80s and '90s in order to get supports for kids in classrooms," Foster said.

At the time, Surrey had more support for kids in classrooms.

"People moved from other parts of B.C. to Surrey because their kids could be supported, and now that legacy is being eroded. Every government, whether it's BC NDP, BC Liberal, has eroded our capacity to provide those the same kinds of supports."

Keep the pressure on: MLA

Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Hallford told those in attendance to keep the pressure on the district.

"I can tell you emphatically that this building, it's not about bricks and mortar here, this is about lives, it's about our kids," Halford said.

"It's never the wrong time to do the right thing," Halford said. "(The Province) needs to step up. They can keep these doors open, but the anxiety that this is causing people in this community is absolutely unacceptable. These kids here, they call this place home. This is where they feel safe, and to think that they can lock these doors and leave these kids without a place to learn, to me, is absolutely incomprehensible."

Bryan Tepper, MLA for Surrey-Panorama, echoed Halford's sentiments.

"We need to make sure that we have support for all of these kids," Tepper said.

Tepper and Halford said they will continue to pressure the Surrey School District, the Ministry of Education, and the NDP. Halford told the crowd he plans to approach the district with a number of questions about the centre's future.

"If they don't answer my questions, the next person I'm going to, I'm going to is the Minister of Education, and if she doesn't answer my question, that next person I'm going to is the premier of the province, and he better answer these questions," he said.

-With files from Sobia Moman



Anna Burns

About the Author: Anna Burns

I cover breaking news, health care, non-profits and social issues-related topics for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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