Longer school day a problem: Surrey teachers

The teachers, members of the BCTF's Surrey Teachers' Association, said the move will cause a lot of problems.

Association President Denise Moffatt said teachers are worried.

"It could mean some changes to teachers' schedules. There may be impact on their personal life. We've heard about childcare concerns from our members. It may mean an overall longer day they are at the school. Their number one concern is the impact on students and to get the message out that Surrey really needs more schools to be built," Moffatt said.

The school district plans to go ahead with the change in September.

Surrey School District spokesperson Doug Strachan said extending the school day by an extra hour or two to stagger start and finishing times is necessary to ease overcrowding.

"The students would still be taking four blocks, but you can spread out the students over five blocks instead of four and that eases pressure on all sorts of course programs, as well as the school facilities themselves," he said.

Earl Marriott Secondary is one of the schools earmarked for a longer day.

The school is operating over capacity, with 300 extra students.

Student Lisa McMahon-Findlay said the school is too crowded.

"It's really hard to go to classes, and especially to get there on time too. There are just too many people in the hallway and usually when you are trying to go somewhere, people are opening their lockers, which pushes the people even closer into the middle," she said.