Former and current students of the South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre have offered the school district their own money to cover the cost of the rental increase for the building.
Two delegations spoke at the regular Surrey school board meeting Wednesday night (Feb. 12), with the first being a group of former and current White Rock students and one parent, while the second was an advocate. But before either delegation proceeded, chair Gary Tymoschuk stated clearly that the decision to close South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre would still go ahead.
"Please know that the care and support that students have received in learning centres is not going anywhere," he said, adding that each student will receive individualized learning plans as they transition out of that space.
The South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre is one of three that has or will be closed soon, with Guildford Learning centre now closed and City Central Learning Centre closing and becoming a mainstream elementary school again in September. The reasons for the closures have largely been budget constraints.
The student delegation focused on testimony about why the learning centre was an integral part of their lives.
"I went to my principal and I broke down telling them about the bullying I was going through on social media and in the school, and that’s when he said ‘I can’t kick out hundreds of students, but I can kick out one’ and off to the learning centre I went," said one presenter, adding that was the best move for them.
The group also collected testimony from students from all closing learning centres saying they will not return to mainstream schools.
The options for the White Rock students are to re-enrol in a mainstream school and attend an alternate educational program there, while Guildford students had the option to amalgamate with North Surrey Learning Centre students at that site, one of two that will remain open.
Another presenter shared that she was formerly in foster care and was actually living in a tent before going to the learning centre, adding that the student and teaching environment at the small school was helpful for her.
"We appreciate the work that mainstream teachers do, but we would also like the board to acknowledge that when you need heart surgery, you don’t call your family doctor, you consult a heart surgeon," said another former student.
The students said they had met with the site's landlord, who shared with them that they proposed to increase the rent of the centre by $300, making the rental cost about $17,700 per month, but offered to lock that in place for five years.
In order to afford the increase, the students offered the district to pay the difference to keep the centre open and asked trustees to present a motion to prevent the closure of the learning centre.
Trustees had no response to these requests or any questions asked by the presenters but said they will receive an electronic response within the month.
"They’ve (students) thought critically about this decision, they’ve come up with creative solutions to oppose it, they’ve communicated skilfully both with you and in uniting the community," said former student Carter Allen.
"The learning centre helped mould all of these people here in front of you today, and closing an institution that meets your vision so clearly seems to contradict all of your stated values."
Current student Spirit Broomfield had a chance to speak along with her mother, who also attended the learning centre after having trouble in mainstream schooling, at Semiahmoo Secondary.
"Today I’m here to tell you that you have taken away our voices and our right to fight for our education," Broomfield said. "You don’t believe in this program, and that means you don’t believe in us."
She also called out the school board for not visiting the students and not holding a consultation with them before deciding to close it, calling the decision "dictatorial."
An advocate who also presented, Colleen Kerr, said the way the students were informed about the closure was "not trauma-informed" or "consultative."
Trustee Laurie Larsen argued that the learning centres are not being closed but "redistributed" and will simply look different moving forward, a point also echoed by trustee Bob Holmes.
Larsen shared a short story of her granddaughter who was getting involved in poor habits and was skipping school and was then transferred to a learning centre for Grades 10 and 11 but returned to Enver Creek Secondary for Grade 12. She said it was a success story, adding that her granddaughter missed taking elective courses while at the learning centre.
"There are other options that maybe don’t look the same, but there are other options that allow students that really need that environment outside of the secondary school, period. Those options have always been there and they will remain there, they’ll just look a little different," Holmes said.
