Editor:
It seems the refusal to think outside the box that has plagued the teachers union has also infected the Surrey school trustees and even parents groups (Surrey leaders want housing freeze, April 27; Packed house sends message to Surrey, May 11).
They want the province to build more school buildings, while the ones we have are rarely used.
In the private sector, if the demand increases, you use your facilities more efficiently; you put on another shift, etc. But when it comes to government-funded schools, no one bats an eye about demanding that the provincial government spend $25 million per school to build more buildings that are rarely used.
When you drive through a school zone, the speed is lowered between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. That is because the schools, whether they be old or new, are only used between 9 and 3.
The capacity of a school building can be doubled by having one session of classes in the morning and a completely different group of students attending in the afternoon. The number of trained teachers isn’t a problem, because they would be teaching in new school buildings or additional portables anyway.
And what about evenings and weekends? Many high school students are up until midnight anyway. Give them the option to go to school in the evenings and let them sleep in in the morning.
Aren’t some schools in Vancouver used under-capacity? Bus children to those schools. At least someone in Victoria has enough sense to realize the sudden bulge of kindergarten children entering the school system now will leave elementary schools empty in seven years and high schools empty in 12 years.
No more new school buildings, please! Let’s use the money to figure out how to make all that water that is flowing into the ocean from the Fraser River drinkable so that we won’t have constant water shortages.
John Bootsma, White Rock
