Surrey's public school district is the largest in BC — and the most overcrowded. Students are learning in parking lot portables without bathrooms. Schools are running staggered schedules. And the district just told Grade 10–12 students to learn from home some days. Here's what's really happening, and why some families are looking elsewhere.
When Saakshi Khanna's seven-year-old came home during last September's heat wave complaining that his portable classroom was unbearably hot, she wasn't surprised. She was exhausted. His classroom — one of twelve portable units at Walnut Road Elementary — has no air conditioning. No attached bathroom. No permanent walls.
Her other son attends one of the six Surrey high schools that have extended their hours this semester, staggering start times so that fewer bodies occupy the building at any given moment. Some days he starts early. Some days he starts late. "Every single day I have to ask my child if it's an early start or a late start," one parent described the reality at another staggered-schedule school.
These aren't temporary measures. They're the new normal in BC's largest — and most underfunded — school district.
Surrey's school district has grown by an average of 2,598 students per year over the past two years — triple the rate of the previous decade. The district now serves over 83,000 students and projects thousands more in the next five years, driven by the province's housing targets of 27,000+ new units in Surrey alone.
To keep up, the district says it needs $5 billion in school builds over five years. For context, the entire provincial capital budget for all schools across BC is $3.75 billion over three years. Surrey's need alone exceeds the province's total allocation.
The result? Schools are turning away students within their own catchment area for lack of space. Programs are being cut. The Grade 7 band program is gone. Bus services for students with diverse needs have been reduced. StrongStart, the free pre-kindergarten program, nearly shut down entirely.
"You feel detached from the school in portables. You don't feel like you are part of the school."— Surrey student, District Focus Group, December 2023
In December 2023, the Surrey School District conducted focus groups with students about their experiences. The findings were stark. Almost every student said their school experience was worse than just two years earlier.
Students described climate challenges in portables that swing from freezing in winter to sweltering in late summer. They reported less access to teachers and counsellors, simply because there are too many students competing for too few staff. Course selection has become a scramble. Younger students entering secondary school described confusion navigating staggered schedules they'd never encountered before.
And for the 2025–26 school year, the district introduced something new: a hybrid remote learning pilot for Grades 10–12, where students attend some classes in person and others online from home. Not as a pedagogical innovation. As overflow management.
Overcrowding doesn't just mean tight hallways. It means your child has less face time with teachers who are stretched across too many students. It means counsellors — the adults trained to notice when a child is struggling — are buried under caseloads that make meaningful relationships impossible. It means extracurriculars get cut because the budget went to portables instead of programs.
For families who value things that can't be measured by standardized tests — a sense of belonging, a school community that knows your child's name, an environment where your family's values are understood — overcrowding erodes exactly those things first.
One education advocate called the staggered schedule plan "the best of the worst ideas," noting that students wouldn't be able to participate in clubs, teams, or the social aspects of school that matter for development. "Those support teachers and staff that help run those programs are going to be in classrooms," she said.
According to principals across the district, the number of families relying on food programs, gift cards, and donations continues to rise. The schools aren't just overcrowded. They're under-resourced in almost every dimension that affects a child's daily experience.
"It's just not the right environment for the kids to learn."— Surrey parent, CBC News
For some Surrey parents, the breaking point came when they realized the crisis wasn't temporary — and that waiting for a $5 billion solution wasn't realistic during their child's formative years.
A growing number of families are exploring alternatives: private schools, out-of-district transfers, homeschooling co-ops. Among Sikh families in Surrey — who make up a significant portion of the city's population — one option has been quietly growing since 2008.
Sikh Academy is a fully accredited BC Curriculum day school in Surrey, serving Kindergarten through Grade 8. Students follow the same provincial curriculum as any public school — but in an environment designed for the experience public school can no longer provide.
No portables. No staggered schedules. No hybrid Zoom overflow. Small class sizes where teachers know every student's name. And something no public school in Surrey offers: a Sikh perspective woven into daily learning — including Punjabi language, kirtan, gatka, and Gurmukhi.
"We accept students from all walks of life, in the spirit of equality and oneness that is core to our Sikh values," the school states. "Whether your family is deeply rooted in Sikh tradition or just beginning your journey, you belong here."
"Everyone was on the same page and working well together. We built strong connections with the admin, teachers, and parents, and made lifelong friendships along the way. That sense of belonging and family was always present."
"My children have always felt appreciated and supported by their teachers and staff, and as a parent, I have always felt welcomed."
For families weighing the cost of private school, the question increasingly isn't whether they can afford it — it's whether they can afford not to explore it, given what public school in Surrey currently looks like.
Sikh Academy offers flexible tuition plans and encourages families to get in touch about what works for their situation. But the first step is simpler than that.