Parents and supporters of an early educational program for preschool children rallied once again in hopes of saving the program at risk of shutting down in Surrey.
Available throughout B.C., StrongStart is a pre-kindergarten service that is free for children from birth to age five that acts as a precursor to entering the public education system. In Surrey, the program has not received an increase in funding from the Education Ministry since 2008, according to the school board.
Chanting “We need StrongStart” and “We love StrongStart,” parents led a rally on Wednesday night (April 24).
Peter Shen, a parent organizer of the recent rallies and a petition, said the protest brought in dozens of community members “to have our voices heard.”
Due to a shortfall in funding, Surrey’s trustees will be deciding soon whether to significantly decrease the program by only running it at 10 schools, instead of 25, or cut it altogether.
RELATED: New petition started to bring Surrey’s StrongStart issue to B.C. legislature
The hard-copy petition has received more than 5,000 signatures, with the group hoping to bring the issue to the B.C. Legislature.
Surrey is not the only municipality dealing with cuts to its StrongStart program, as the Maple Ridge school district is also looking to cut one of its eight programs due to a lack of funding.
“We feel like this is now an issue with all districts running StrongStart programs in B.C.,” Shen said.
“More and more districts will come forward and require the ministry to fully fund StrongStart in order to keep the program running for years to come.”
Wednesday’s rally was the third one so far held by the Surrey group at the District Education Centre in Surrey. These rallies are coming ahead of a board decision anticipated some time in May.