B.C. Conservatives push to end portable classrooms in Surrey

B.C. Conservative MLA John Rustad is vowing to end the use of portable classrooms in Surrey.

On Monday, Rustad told reporters that kids in portables is “just wrong.”

“There are kids today in Surrey that go through their entire educational process and sometimes will never be actually in a school,” he said.

There are currently 336 portables in Surrey, which are used by about 10 per cent of the student population.

Sash Khanna is a parent whose son is in Grade 8 at Fleetwood Secondary, one of the city’s most overcrowded schools.

“I would love to see kids out of portables with proper learning areas, and capacity issued resolved,” Khanna said.

“But those talks have been ongoing with the government for 15 years now and I have not seen any concrete results.”

Arnav Soni, a Grade 8 student at Fleetwood, says being in the portables is tiring.

“I’m in the portable and have to travel and it takes a while because there’s so much traffic at the school,” Soni said.

“At times, the portable can get really cold or really hot, and it bothers me.”

Rustad claims students in portables are not receiving the same quality of education as those in regular classrooms. However, according to the Surrey School District, test scores of students in Surrey are consistently at, or above, the provincial average.

As part of his promises, Rustad is also saying he will rid schools of the extended schedules the district has proposed for the coming school year to address overcrowding, and he will build more schools to increase capacity.

According to the Ministry of Education, more than 5,000 new spots are open or on the way for secondary students in Surrey.

Premier David Eby responded to Rustad’s comments in a press conference on Monday. He said the province is currently putting $4.2 billion into building and seismically upgrading schools in B.C.

“And interestingly and importantly, Rustad stood up in response to the budget and opposed that spending,” Eby said.

“I don’t understand how you’re getting rid of portables if you’re not spending money to build schools.”