School District 36 Surrey

School District 36 Surrey
British Columbia

Region	Metro/Coast
Board office location	Surrey
Communities served	Surrey, White Rock, Barnston Island
Number of schools	131
Budget: CAD$ (millions)	418.7
Student population: full-time equivalent	63,036
Superintendent:	Mr Mike McKay
School District 36 Website

School District 36 Surrey operates schools in Surrey, White Rock, and Barnston Island, British Columbia. This is the largest school district in British Columbia with 66,100 students during the 2005/2006 school year. District 36 includes 99 elementary schools, 20 secondary schools, and 6 learning centres. The first school in Surrey opened in 1882.

School board

The current school board was elected in November 2008 for a three year term.

• Laurae McNally
• Shawn Wilson
• Terry Allen
• Laurie Larsen
• Reni Masi
• Ijaz Chatta
• Pam Glass

Schools

Elementary schools

Discovery Elementary School

49°12′1.8″N 122°51′32.2″W / 49.2005°N 122.858944°W / 49.2005; -122.858944
Discovery Elementary School, at 13104 109 Ave is a K-7 school with 133 students as of 16 January 2006. The Principal is Ms. C. Graham.

Discovery was founded about forty years ago by parents and teachers and is based on the Adlarian philosophy. In its early days, the school had a strong parent involvement in learning and students often learned in alternative environments including field-trips and museums, and doctoral-level educators were sometimes brought in. The classroom setting at Discovery has no desks, instead students sit in a circle on the floor, to give a sense of equality and to facilitate eye-contact and communication. There are, however, chairs in the computer room and sofas in the library.

Secondary schools and other programs

In the news

Books

The Surrey school district was the focus of major media attention from 1997 to 2002. The board voted that books dealing with families where both parents were of the same sex not be included as optional learning resources. These books were requested by James Chamberlain, a kindergarten teacher, to reflect on the realities of today's families and to teach his pupils about diversity and tolerance.

A legal battle to overturn the decision to ban the three books went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the school board's decision was overturned. The judgment, Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36, cited the need for families headed by same-sex couples to be respected. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin dismissed the Board's concerns that children would be confused or misled by classroom information about same-sex parents. She pointed out that the children of same-sex parents are rubbing shoulders with children from more traditional families and wrote: "Tolerance is always age-appropriate, children cannot learn unless they are exposed to views that differ from those they are taught at home." The legal fees ended up costing Surrey taxpayers over $1,200,000.

Drama

In 2005, the Surrey School Board once again made national news for prohibiting the production of The Laramie Project, a play that deals with the murder of a gay university student, in one of its secondary schools, Elgin Park Secondary, causing outrage from LGBT advocacy organization Egale Canada.^[1] A Vancouver school, Lord Byng, located in the neighbouring Vancouver School District subsequently chose to stage the play.^[2]

Environment

In May 2007, the Surrey School Board made national news when it voted to instruct teachers not to show Al Gore's global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth until trustees are able to review the film. Trustee Heather Stilwell said she's not sold on the theory of global warming: "I am not sure. I mean I see evidence. I think there is climate change, there's no question about that. Whether what Al Gore says about it is the truth, I have questions."^[3]

Extra-Curricular Clubs

In early November, 2009, a Cloverdale father, Paul Jubenvill, requested an extra-curricular non-instructional voluntarily-attended Bible club during lunch-hour at his sons' school^[4][5], Colebrook Elementary. The school would not permit the club on their property, and the Surrey School District supported the blockade. The father argued that this ban violates the provincial BC Human Rights Code by disallowing a normally available service, only on the grounds of discrimination against religion. The School District was concerned that permitting the club may give the appearance that the school endorses a particular religious ideology. Mr. Jubenvill argued that there is a difference between endorsing a faith versus "accommodating" spiritual needs.

A complaint was filed with the BC Human Rights Tribunal; however, Mr. Jubenvill withdrew the complaint because he felt that the resulting media attention and the reaction it generated did not accurately represent his intentions.^[6]

He plans to meet with the school and the district in person.

Some secondary schools in School District 36 have, or have had, overtly Christian clubs (for example, LA Matheson has a prayer club titled "PUSH"^[7][8], Semiahmoo Secondary had a Crossroad Christian club in 2008 and earlier years^[9], and Fraser Heights Secondary had a Bible Club in 2007^[10]).

Gallery

Holly Elementary School by day	The moon sets over Holly Elementary School, October 14, 2008	Pacific Heights Elementary School	Princess Margaret Secondary School
Colebrook Elementary School; evening shot of the south wing in October 2009	Surrey Centre Elementary School; Dec 2, 2009 (full moon) HDR shot at 11:10 pm

See also

• List of school districts in British Columbia

References

External links

• Official website
• Surrey Electors Team website
• SCC decision--Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36.
• Supreme Court says B.C. school board wrong to ban same-sex books
• Affidavit used in Chamberlain case.
• Book banning in Surrey, What happened?.

v • d • e Schools in Surrey and White Rock, British Columbia Secondary schools Clayton Heights · Earl Marriott · Elgin Park · Enver Creek · Fleetwood Park · Frank Hurt · Fraser Heights · Guildford Park · Johnston Heights · Kwantlen Park · L A Matheson · Lord Tweedsmuir · North Surrey · Panorama Ridge · Princess Margaret · Queen Elizabeth · Semiahmoo · Sullivan Heights · Tamanawis Primary or elementary schools List of all elementary schools Private schools Holy Cross Regional High School · Pacific Academy · Southridge School Other schools Student Support Centre · South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre · Invergarry Learning Centre · Cloverdale Learning Centre · North Surrey Learning Centre · Guildford Learning Centre · TREES Centre · Newton Learning Centre