British Columbia·NewAmid the long-running challenge of overcrowding in Surrey schools, the school district is piloting a hybrid-learning program for secondary students this fall, while the B.C. government says it is adding hundreds of new student seats to three elementary schools in the district.400 new elementary school seats and a hybrid learning pilot for grades 10 to 12, province saysJohna Baylon · CBC News · Posted: Aug 26, 2025 9:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 23 minutes agoThe Surrey School District, the province’s largest, is offering a hybrid learning model in a bid to deal with overcrowding. (Shutterstock)Amid the long-running challenge of overcrowding in Surrey schools, the school district is piloting a hybrid-learning program for secondary students this fall, while the B.C. government says it is adding hundreds of new student seats to three elementary schools in the district.The pilot, announced last December, will offer online and in-person class options to students in Grades 10 to 12 in the province’s largest school district. “Students will attend some blocks in class with their teacher and some blocks online,” reads a Dec. 17, 2024, letter to parents, which also describes the pilot as a way to prepare students “for the world of hybrid work.””Online blocks provide students with the flexibility to work from home, work in a flexible space in the school, and collaborate online with teachers and peers.”A hallway at Woodland Park Elementary School on Aug. 26, 2025. The Surrey School District has long struggled with overcrowding. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)It’s one of the latest moves by the Surrey School District, which serves 83,000 students, to address overcrowding.Recently, it announced it would adopt staggered start times for some schools, where hours would start earlier and end later. Mixed response from teachersViolette Baillargeon, vice-president of the Surrey Teachers’ Association, said they were told the classes would be voluntary — meaning both teachers and students can sign up if they’re interested in doing the hybrid-learning program. She said the program could involve teachers running virtual lessons that students can follow from home or on campus, or making teaching materials available ahead of time for students to access later. She said their member teachers have had a “mixed” response to the program.”There’s a lot of trepidation,” Baillargeon told host Michelle Eliot on BC Today.A new classroom at Woodland Park Elementary School on Aug 26, 2025. The vice-president of the Surrey Teachers’ Association said the hybrid learning model raises concerns about teachers being overworked. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)She said the program could see teachers’ workload being doubled, as they’ll need to prepare lessons for both in-class and online learning — and assess students’ work for both.Baillargeon added that teachers know that “being online can also decrease meaningful engagement.””We know that students learn best when there’s a relationship built, and they’re in front of you, and they can speak and hear and ask questions and engage.”WATCH | How remote hybrid learning will work in Surrey: How will remote hybrid learning work for Surrey schools? To combat overcrowding, the Surrey School District is introducing an optional remote hybrid learning pilot project for students to take some classes virtually. Surrey Teachers’ Association second vice-president Violette Baillargeon and Surrey Parent Advisory Council president Anne Whitmore spoke with BC Today host Michelle Eliot about how the program will work and how it will differ from the pandemic. Parents scrambling to adapt, spokesperson says”When we first heard that hybrid was coming, a lot of families had that reaction from the pandemic,” Anne Whitmore, president of the Surrey District Parent Advisory Council, told BC Today.”We had kind of small-‘T’ trauma where everybody was scrambling.”Anne Whitmore, president of the Surrey District Parents Advisory Council, said the model could benefit some students. (Ben Nelms/CBC)However, Whitmore said she sees how it could benefit some students.”For some students, they thrive in this environment,” Whitmore said.”They’re in their home environment, they’re in their comfy clothes, they’re in their safe space. It allows their brain to relax and to be engaged in their learning and to do it sometimes at their own pace.””For other students, it’s absolutely critical that they have a person to co-regulate with, that they’re connected to their teacher, that they are engaged in the learning and that they’re drawn along and inspired in that way.”BC TodaySurrey schools to roll out remote hybrid learning amid overcrowdingThe Surrey School District is implementing a hybrid learning pilot project to deal with overcrowding in schools as classes resume next month. That’s on top of the district announcing staggered class times to better adjust to surging enrollment and lacking school infrastructure.Surrey Teachers’ Association 2nd vice-president Violette Baillargeon joins the show to provide details on how the pilot will work as Surrey District Parent Advisory Council president Anne Whitmore comments on the impact this could have on families.Valerie Irvine, professor of educational technology at the University of Victoria, joins the show to discuss strains on public schools and educational policies.New student seats for Surrey elementary schoolsThe B.C. Ministry of Infrastructure also announced on Tuesday afternoon that it is providing more than 700 new student seats this fall, including 400 to Woodland Park Elementary, 100 to Walnut Road Elementary, and 225 to Theresa Clarke Elementary.Parliamentary Secretary for Surrey Infrastructure Garry Begg said the province was working to ensure infrastructure kept up with demand in Surrey. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)”Surrey is one of the fastest-growing communities in the province, and we’re working hard to make sure infrastructure keeps pace, especially when it comes to schools,” Garry Begg, parliamentary secretary for Surrey infrastructure, said in a statement from the province.The ministry said construction has also begun on more than 2,300 new seats for Kwantlen Park Secondary, Martha Currie Elementary, Old Yale Road Elementary, Latimer Road Elementary, William Watson Elementary, George Greenaway Elementary, and Guildford Park Secondary. ABOUT THE AUTHORJohna Baylon is a reporter with CBC News in Vancouver. Email her with story tips at johna.baylon@cbc.ca.With files from BC Today, Michelle Eliot and Akshay Kulkarni
Hybrid learning and new seats coming to overcrowded Surrey schools this fall
