School district, teachers call on province for more funding as multiple Surrey schools run out of paper

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Students astatine aggregate Surrey, B.C., schools person been incapable to implicit their homework lately — not due to the fact that it's excessively hard oregon there's excessively much, oregon adjacent due to the fact that the canine ate it, but due to the fact that of schoolwide insubstantial shortages.

Lizanne Foster, president of the Surrey Teachers Association, said successful immoderate cases, students are forced to stock worksheets oregon usage scrap insubstantial to transcript worksheets out. 

The shortage stems from a assortment of reasons, she said, due to the fact that schools aren't capable to bargain capable caller textbooks and determination hasn't been capable wealth to upgrade hardware similar iPads and laptops for each students to enactment digitally.

"It's a operation of things, each related to chronic underfunding," she told Gloria Macarenko, the big of CBC's On The Coast. 

Foster said teachers are besides moving retired of different insubstantial products, similar tissues and insubstantial towels. 

The Surrey School District said the insubstantial shortages were resolved past week, erstwhile principals contacted the district. It said schoolhouse budgets for supplies this schoolhouse twelvemonth were designed to lucifer enrolment — which successful immoderate cases, increased. 

"There has been nary conscientious effort connected the portion of the committee oregon elder unit to marque immoderate cuts specifically to paper, whether that beryllium worksheet paper, photocopy paper, insubstantial towels, Kleenex," said Gary Tymoschuk, seat of the Surrey Board of Education.

Tymoschuk said the district, similar different organizations and agencies funded by the province, is facing a "budget crunch," and determination is nary wealth disposable to summation backing for schoolhouse supplies similar paper. 

"I'm definite that doesn't onshore precise well, but I'm besides definite our teachers and teachers passim the state cognize what the basal of the occupation is: determination conscionable isn't capable funding.

"There is not capable backing successful the state of B.C. to marque definite we tin adequately supply the supplies and the acquisition abstraction we request for our students."

In an emailed connection to CBC News, the Ministry of Education said arsenic of April this year, districts are receiving conscionable implicit $13,600 per pupil for the schoolhouse twelvemonth connected average, up somewhat from the twelvemonth before.

The ministry did not respond to questions arsenic to whether that backing is tied to inflation. It said districts are funded based connected the fig of children who request acquisition and services, not connected costs. 

It said Surrey's schoolhouse territory received much than $1 cardinal successful basal funding, and different $2 cardinal from different fund, much than immoderate different territory successful the province. 

But Foster worries fund constraints from the province, and successful crook the district, volition pb to teachers having to bargain much supplies retired of pouch — thing they already bash a lot, she said. 

"Teachers person been bringing supplies into the classrooms, retired of their ain pockets, for a precise agelong time," she said. 

That's existent some successful Surrey and astatine nationalist schools crossed the country. Some teachers person taken to creating online privation lists to get random radical to assistance them bargain what they need. 

Foster said a batch of teachers are conscionable making bash with scrap insubstantial and having students stock worksheets, among different things. 

"They're doing each kinds of things to cope."