Students, both former and current, parents and other supporters rallied ahead of the district board meeting to call on trustees to reverse a decision to close the South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre.
"Why the standalone sites are so important is because you create a positive peer culture. When the students are helping each other, there's tremendous benefit in that in terms of personal human development," said James Johnon, a former teacher at the White Rock site.
Outside the District Education Centre in Surrey, supporters of the learning centre came with posters, chants and passion as they made their demands heard on Wednesday night (Jan. 15).
In a , South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre will close at the end of the year, with students to be transferred back to mainstream schools next year. The lease for the building will be ending in June and the district has decided to not renew it, due to budget constraints.
An alternative learning program will be established at the four South Surrey high schools 鈥� the same schools that many students left to attend the learning centre. Students will be able to choose which one to take.
"They say we'll have the same resources and support, but I don't think we'll be able to get that because they're splitting us up," said current student Octavia Macdonald.
The learning centres' demographics are largely students who were bullied, have mental health or substance use challenges, youth in care, Indigenous students, children living in poverty, those who have difficulties in social situations and more. The students are able to take courses from Grades 10 to 12 and graduate with a Dogwood or Adult Dogwood Diploma.
"There's substance youth counsellors, there's two social workers, and if you're struggling, they'll play some games with you, they'll give you a chance to make lunch instead, and that doesn't hurt your education, it makes you want to show up and it gives you a reason to actually be at school," a current student said at the protest.
Another student at the protest said that the closure of not just this learning centre but others in the district is sending a message to students with different learning needs.
"I think downsizing the program to just a single room is sending a message that people at these schools just aren't as important or valued as people at regular schools," he said.
Highlighting how many students at the centre experience bullying, one supporter shared how serious the issue is.
"Bullying kills. There's so many kids in mainstream schools who even now are going through very stressful and hurtful bullying, and are you going to tell those children 'tough luck, it's too much money?' That's not appropriate, you can't tell a child that," she emphasized.
"These kids, just because they're from different situations doesn't mean they're valued less."
At the end of the public meeting while announcing question period, board chair Gary Tymoschuk made a brief statement about the closure of South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre.
Tymoschuk promised students and families that the students being transferred back to mainstream will still be able to receive the education they need.
"Every student will have a meeting with the principal and other staff at the school to make sure that that plan is well-developed for your transition into wherever it is you may want to go in the future."
While many of the protesters were in the audience of the board meeting once it began, so much so that they filled the overflow area, trustees did not entertain questions on the topic. Due to a last year, questions asked during school board public meetings can only be on agenda topics for that meeting, which the learning centre closure was not.
That didn't stop individuals from trying to have their say.
Education advocate Cindy Dalglish argued that the students in the audience should have a chance to ask questions to the board about the learning centre's closure.
One student who was at the protest cited bus service cuts to vulnerable students and food programs, adding that at the learning centre, children are provided meals on a daily basis.
"How do we decide what kind of education do we support and which students are more important than others?" he asked trustees.
A former student of the learning centre took to the mic to ask about school additions being built, which was discussed at the meeting.
"You said these children are going to be taken care of, that they are going to be put in areas that are specialized to them, they're going to have specialized learning programs. Those places are in the corners," she said, referencing sketch plans for a new addition.
"Those places are in the back-ends of the school. I would not have survived a regular school in the district, and I know many of my peers can say the same thing. Kids can not survive in the corners, kids can not survive in the dark and just because we don't fit in the cookie-cutter system, doesn't mean that we deserve to fall through the cracks.
"I would like to know what is the plan to actually make sure that these kids feel supported, welcomed and loved and to make sure that they succeed as I was lucky enough to thanks to the White Rock Learning Centre?"
