The Editor:
Have you ever considered sending your child to a New Westminster district school, or are you a student there yourself?
If so, you may be aware of the growing manner of the overcapacity and crowding crisis prevalent in these schools.
Here are the facts: enrolment has risen to 8,000 students in 2024, and is expected to reach 10,000 by 2037.
In comparison, according to the New Westminster Schools website, 11 out of the 12 schools are considered to be undersized by the [education] ministry.
So, why does this matter?
Parents and students applying to New Westminster schools are facing insufficient space. In response, schools are resorting to the construction of portables.
However, these portables take away valuable recreational and staff parking space, and students who are placed in them often feel isolated or detached from the main building. Some Grade 6 students may even have to stay in elementary school longer, creating further overcrowding at that level.
Worst of all, the most crowded schools are resorting to a lottery system, prioritizing siblings of current students and rejecting out-of-catchment or international applicants.
As a student at New Westminster Secondary School, others and I experience the effects of overcrowding daily.
With nearly 2,400 students packed into hallways that seem to need traffic regulation, backpacks becoming bumper cars in the race for attendance, overwhelmed bathrooms, unbearably long lunch lines and the overflowing of bus stops. Many students even find difficulty in enroling for important courses for their academic futures.
These issues must be addressed, either by building new schools or maximizing space efficiency, or preferably both.
Education is a right; no student should have to compete for a classroom spot, and they most definitely should not be chosen by a lottery system.
- Hibiki Chu, New Westminster
