Former students of a specialized school program in South Surrey are speaking out, saying the learning centre was a lifeline — and one they might not have graduated without.
The Surrey School District has announced it will close the South Surrey-White Rock Learning Centre at the end of the school year. The district says the facility’s lease is up, and that it can’t afford renovations or higher rent.
The learning centre provides alternative education programs for students who struggle in mainstream schools.
Desmond Tompkins was one of those students.
An out queer student with learning differences, he said he faced constant bullying and harassment at his mainstream school.
“I was on the brink of failing all of my classes. I was going to drop out of school until I learned about the learning centre,” he said.
“It got to the point where threats to my life were made and I was assaulted on school grounds, and that was the turning point where they said it was unsafe for me to be in the traditional school environment.”
The change was like night and day. Tompkins entered the learning centre in 2019 as a 10th grader and soon became a straight-A student. He now credits the program with helping him graduate and get a job in the arts and culture sector.
Rachel Raven, who graduated from the program 12 years ago, shared a similar story.
“I failed every class both semesters,” she said of her Grade 9 year, adding she soon got into drugs and started skipping school.
“I was just a raging bully, I was not a nice person at all,” she added.
She made the switch in Grade 10, and after a period of adjustment, she too underwent a transformative change.
“I didn’t understand why the teachers were caring about my grades,” she said. “After I started to get used to it, everything just clicked.”
Surrey School Board Chair Gary Tymoschuk said there simply isn’t the money in the budget to renew the program.
Current students will have the option to transfer to alternative programs at four high schools in South Surrey and White Rock, or return to their catchment schools.
“We fully understand that it’s not the best for all students and for parents, but we are going to make sure that every student has an individual plan,” Tymoschuk told Global News in a previous interview.
“We are going to make sure there are separate classrooms, smaller class sizes, and programming that fits with each individual student.”
Those options are not sitting well with many in the school community.
An online petition against the closure has raised more than 3,500 signatures in just three days.
“I have listened to parents, I have listened to students and I have listened to teachers, and this is absolutely devastating,” South Surrey-White Rock BC Conservative MLA Trevor Halford said.
“The ministry needs to step up, the premier needs to step up and get this fixed, we need to keep these doors open. There is a way to do it, and they have to have the stomach.”
In a statement, Education Minister Lisa Beare said, “districts are in the best position to make programming decisions like this one.”
“I have full confidence the Surrey School District will continue to work closely with the students impacted by this move,” Beare wrote.
But Tompkins and Raven say there is a clear disconnect between decision-makers and students about the value of the program in kids’ lives.
“I understand that finances are an issue, however, why are the most vulnerable students being the ones that get cut, why are their lives expendable? Can we put a cost on the lives of at-risk youth?” Tompkins said.
“Because that’s what the Surrey School District is doing.”
It’s a sentiment Raven echoed.
“I guarantee if I didn’t switch to the learning centre I wouldn’t have graduated. I wouldn’t have even made it to Grade 10,” she said.
“It’s the environment, it’s the people, it’s the acceptance, it’s everything.”