Surrey school district to hire 40 education assistants, after 50 lost last year
Parents and union representatives say the new staffing does not make up for the previous losses while needs rise.
By Cheryl Chan
Last updated 11 hours ago
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The Surrey school district plans to hire 40 education assistants, partly reversing staffing reductions from last year when it faced a budget deficit.
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The increase of 40 full-time education assistants — or inclusive education support workers, as Surrey Schools calls them — is needed to meet growing demand, said trustee Terry Allen, chair of the district’s finance committee.
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“As much as enrolment has gone down by 900 students, special needs students… have gone up by 300,” he said. “There’s a greater need.”
The planned increase comes a year after Surrey Schools, facing a $16-million shortfall, cut programs, including a Grade 7 band program and the White Rock Learning Centre, while also losing 50 EAs through attrition.
On Wednesday, the school district approved its 2026-27 budget, which has a $3.8 million shortfall, driven primarily by declining enrolment. Allen said the shortfall will be covered using surplus funds from this year’s budget.
Some parents and the union representing education assistants say the additional hiring does not go far enough.
Tammy Murphy, president of CUPE 728, which represents support staff including education assistants, said the number of students with diverse needs increased by 375 last year while staffing levels dropped.
“We went up 375 students and went down 50 EAs,” she said. Even with the increase of 40, the district is still down 10 and that doesn’t factor in any increase in need next school year. “We’re still behind the ball. I don’t even see how they can catch up.”
On average, one education assistant may support three to five students, Murphy said, when ideal staffing would be closer to one-to-one or one-to-two ratios.
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The staffing shortage means students suffer, while the education assistants who remain are overworked and increasingly absent due to injury and burnout.
“It’s at the point now that we refer to ourselves as school triage,” Murphy said, pointing out that the district’s superintendent Mark Pearmain got a 26 per cent pay hike last year, bumping up his annual remuneration to just above $447,000.
Surrey District Parent Advisory Council president Anne Whitmore said the additional positions are welcome but insufficient.
“It’s great they’re eyeing that number, but it still leaves us with a net deficit of EAs in our district,” she said. “Even before the 50 EA cuts, we were already under-resourced.”
Whitmore said the district has prioritized students with more visible needs — such as those who are physically dependent or require behavioural support — while students with inclusive education designations or diagnosed disabilities who need academic support are increasingly being overlooked.
Allen acknowledged the new positions does not fully restore past staffing levels and is insufficient, but said the district is working within the constraints of decreased provincial funding tied to enrolment.
Surrey Schools, like all districts in B.C., receives funding on a per-student basis, amounting to roughly $9,000 per student, he said.
The district currently has 80,215 students, down nearly 1,400 from the previous year. Enrolment is expected to fall by another 950 students next year and by roughly 1,960 students over the next three years.
Inflation has strained the district’s finances, particularly as some costs, such as fuel for school buses, have risen without matching increases in per-student funding, added Allen.
The 2026-27 budget also expands the district’s HOPE program — a non-traditional program that provides social, mental-health and trauma-related supports for high school students — to four additional secondary schools. It also expands before- and after-school child care spots and lunch programs.
Allen, who has overseen roughly 10 budgets for the school district, said Surrey Schools is now in a more stable financial position.
“Over the last four years, it’s been pretty heavy lifting through some very challenging times,” he said. “Most of the programs we have in place are ones we really believe we can sustain funding for.”
Still, Whitmore said difficult budget decisions often disproportionately affect vulnerable students.
“It’s the students who are on the margins, students who need support, who need a creative outlet, who need school sports and music and art and all the things that keep students engaged in learning are the ones that suffer.”
