{"id":669715,"date":"2026-05-14T21:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/669715\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T21:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:05:10","slug":"surrey-schools-approves-balanced-budget-expands-student-supports-and-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/669715\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrey Schools approves balanced budget, expands student supports and services"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Terry Allen
\nOfficial photo <\/p>\n

SURREY Schools approved a balanced 2026\u201327 budget at its May 13 Board of Education meeting, marking a significant milestone for the district as it turns the corner on its structural deficit while making targeted investments to support students and families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis budget reflects a commitment to ongoing fiscal sustainability and a strong focus on student success,\u201d said Trustee Terry Allen, Board of Education.\u00a0\u201cWith\u00a0the\u00a0structural deficit\u00a0behind us, we are now in a position to invest in classrooms, strengthen student well-being, and expand supports for families.\u201d<\/p>\n

A key priority of the 2026\u201327 budget is strengthening support\u00a0for students with\u00a0disabilities or\u00a0diverse abilities. The district will hire\u00a040\u00a0additional\u00a0Inclusive\u00a0Educational Support Workers (IESWs) to work alongside students in classrooms across Surrey.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Surrey Schools is expanding its innovative HOPE program\u00a0to\u00a0Johnston Heights, North Surrey,\u00a0\u00c9cole\u00a0Salish, and Princess Margaret secondary schools, bringing the total to\u00a014\u00a0(out of 21 secondary schools). The program\u00a0is designed to support students who find success outside traditional secondary classroom environments. HOPE programs\u00a0provide\u00a0wrap-around services, including\u00a0social-emotional, mental health and trauma-related supports.<\/p>\n

Families across Surrey will see a significant expansion of programs that support students\u2019 well-being and daily needs.<\/p>\n

Childcare:Since 2022, the district has\u202fnearly tripled\u202faccess to before- and after-school childcare, growing from 37 sites to 95\u202felementary schools,\u202frepresenting\u202fthe vast majority of\u202fschools across Surrey.<\/p>\n

Meal programs: School meal programs have also expanded rapidly. In less than two years, lunch programs have grown from 57 schools to 85 elementary schools and 35 secondary schools and alternative secondary programs.\u202f<\/p>\n

Universal lunch programs:\u202fUniversal lunch programs ensure nutritious food for all students.\u202f The district has expanded Universal programs from just 3 sites at the start of the school year to 61 of the operating 85 lunch programs and a goal to make all lunch programs universal.<\/p>\n

Inclusive Education\u00a0Programs:\u00a0The Board\u2019s commitment to equity, inclusion, and belonging in 2026\u201327 will continue with two new elementary-level pilot programs. These programs are\u00a0designed to enhance outcomes for Indigenous learners with Ministry designations and foster a stronger sense of belonging for Children and Youth in Care.\u00a0The goal is to\u00a0reduce\u00a0referrals of Indigenous learners to social development and alternative education programs. In a broader sense they\u00a0will provide\u00a0targeted, trauma-informed supports\u00a0for all\u00a0learners\u00a0within neighbourhood schools,\u00a0providing\u00a0access to culturally rooted community supports\u00a0designed\u00a0to improve learning experiences.<\/p>\n

The Board emphasized that investments\u00a0in\u00a0IESWs\u00a0and HOPE\u00a0programs\u00a0are\u00a0possible\u00a0due to\u00a0the\u00a0school\u00a0district\u2019s\u00a0improved\u00a0financial\u00a0position.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past several years, the Board has made challenging decisions to adjust or discontinue programs that were not financially sustainable,\u201d said Allen. \u201cThese decisions allowed us to bring Surrey Schools into closer alignment with other Metro Vancouver districts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surrey Schools\u2019\u00a0financial stability is expected to support continued investment in priority areas, even as the district navigates declining revenue from ongoing enrolment pressures and unexpected challenges.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Terry Allen Official photo SURREY Schools approved a balanced 2026\u201327 budget at its May 13 Board of Education…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[879,49,48,87674,39],"class_list":["post-669715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}