While prefabricated modular buildings are moving to school grounds to replace portables, trustees are saying the district cannot afford to actually move those portables off-site.

Last year, the B.C. Ministry of Education began funding more prefabricated modular complexes for schools around the province, including Surrey. The buildings come in to the school needing more space to sit on-site, but not attached to the existing school, to provide more classrooms and washrooms.

"The modulars are appreciated, but they鈥檙e not the solution we need," trustee Bob Holmes, in response to the building now open at Lena Shaw Elementary and more coming at other sites this spring, said at the regular school board meeting Wednesday (Jan. 15).

While the extra building brings eight more classrooms to Lena Shaw and therefore replaces four portables, the funding from the ministry "did not consider extra spaces such as special ed, admin or gym or library," said executive director of capital projects Dave Riley.

The space opened on Jan. 6 and "received overwhelmingly positive feedback and reception from staff and students," Riley added.

Building cladding and landscaping work is still commencing at the site, which will continue for several months. A swingset will also need to be rebuilt, as it was removed during the construction period.

Riley also added that once the portables on-site are moved, more play space for children will be "freed up."

This claim, however, brought comment from trustee Bob Holmes, who stated the district does not have enough money to afford to move all the portables that need to be moved.

"We鈥檙e forced to make a lot of our decisions not for educational reasons but for financial reasons with a budget that鈥檚 under extreme pressure. Really, we can鈥檛 afford any more. We鈥檝e had to decide multiple times to spend millions and millions of dollars on buying new portables, moving portables, the cost is through the roof," Holmes emphasized.

Generally speaking, to move a portable comes with a price tag of $100,000. The district appealed to the Education Ministry to fund the moving of portables to make space for the modulars they presented, but that request fell short.

"There is a portable encroaching onto a fire lane, so the ministry has agreed to pay for the cost of removing that portable because it does need to be removed to provide fire access to the building," Riley said, sharing the news.

Because of this, "it鈥檚 looking like that play area is not going to be freed up," Holmes said.

Peace Arch News has reached out to the school district for the number of portables waiting to be moved from school sites.