April 10, 2024
At tonight’s Surrey School Board Meeting, there was quite a turnout of parents, staff and CUPE728 workers wanting to share their frustrations and hoping for answers on the recent news of the decision to end the StrongStart program due to Government Funding
Thank you all who came out and showed your support.
. 
March 13, 2024 – School Board Trustee Meeting
Presentation on StrongStart
March 19th 2024:
On Wednesday March 13th, 2024 CUPE728 was blindsided by the decision to end the StrongStart program in the Surrey School District due to Government Funding (click here for the March 13th 2024 School Board Meeting). Prior to this decision, CUPE728 was not included in any consultation meetings until immediately before the announcement, nor were they asked to provide any alternative plans leading up to this decision.
There are 35 StrongStart CUPE728 members in SD36 that provide phenomenal educational and community supports to thousands of families which include over 3000 children ages 0-5. They are an integral part in providing early childhood screening, social-emotional supports, health services, community information and much more. By losing this program, we believe that it will have negative impacts on each and every student in the school district by allowing an underfunded and under-resourced education system to go forward.
Over the past few days, President Tammy Murphy has been working non-stop, alongside the StrongStart members and Surrey District Parent Advisory Council President Anne Whitmore to put pressure on the School District, local MLAs and the Provincial Government. Tammy has been doing numerous radio, TV and print interviews both with StrongStart members and DPAC, some which include:
Thursday, Mar 14 – Global News https://globalnews.ca/…/school-program-at-risk-of…/
Friday City News
Monday morning RedRadio
Monday morning ConnectFM
Saturday and Monday morning CBC – https://www.cbc.ca/…/strongstart-surrey-school-district…
Additional information:
https://globalnews.ca/bc/program/the-jill-bennett-show
https://globalnews.ca/news/10362959/surrey-early-learning-program-cancellation/
print/video:
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/surrey-early-education-program-at-risk-of-closing-1.6810041
video:
print/video:
https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/03/15/surrey-schools-budget-early-learning-program/
https://voiceonline.com/surrey-families-call-on-bc-government-to-fund-strong-start-for-children/
print:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/strongstart-surrey-school-district-1.7146271
Around 6m 40s:
CUPE728 is working continuously around the clock to ensure that our StrongStart members do not lose their job. We ask that every CUPE728 member to stand alongside us. If you’re not sure where to start, send an email to your local MLA asking to continue the funding. Stronger we are together. Together we will achieve
Released on March 20th, 2024
On Wednesday March 13th, 2024 CUPE728 was blindsided by the decision to end the StrongStart program in the Surrey School District due to Government Funding. Prior to this decision, CUPE728 was not included in any consultation meetings until immediately before the announcement, nor were they asked to provide any alternative plans.
StrongStart programs provide enriched learning designed for the development of children aged 0-5. This includes the development of language, physical, cognitive, social, and emotional needs. StrongStart is the first point of contact for families and communities and often for our vulnerable learners.
Currently, the 25 StrongStart Centres foster critical services to 1,000’s of families including 3,200 children. This program identifies special needs in children before they are enrolled in schools, which has astronomical delays in testing for students.
Unfortunately, there has been no growth in funding since 2008.
On March 13, 2024 the School Board Trustees were provided 2 options for this funding crisis.
- to eliminate all StrongStart facilities or
- to substantially decrease the number of facilities from 25 to 6
This affects many already struggling families. Th loss or reduction of this program is neglecting our youngest learners and is unforgivable in CUPE728’s opinion.
We need all parties to step up and adequately fund this program.
We ask all parties to be accountable for sourcing and providing the necessary funding to support the StrongStart program and the families that rely on it.
CUPE 728 is urging the provincial Minister of Education and childcare to explore potential solutions and strategies with the district for addressing the funding challenges facing Surrey’s StrongStart program.