Surrey Schools saw a decrease in enrolment, but a $45M surplus 

Surrey school district’s 2025-26 fiscal year reported an accumulated surplus of $45 million, despite a decrease of about 1,200 students. 

The decline in student enrolment is a first after nearly three decades of constant growth. Amidst the concern of overcrowding in schools, the decline in enrolment also means an $8 million decline in the operating grant year-over-year as the school district receives funding from the province based upon the number of students. There will also be a decrease of about $1.2 million in international student tuition. 

The consolidated revenues sat at $1.17 billion, an increase of a little over $8 million from the year prior, while consolidated expenditures were at $1.17 billion, which was an increase of $53.9 million from before. 

Assistant secretary-treasurer Simran Kang presented the financial year-end review at the Sept. 16 school board meeting and explained that the district’s “operating fund is essentially the day-to-day activities of the district. When we think of instructional programs, school-based activities, district administration, as well as maintenance of facilities and transportation, all of those activities are encompassed within the operating fund itself.” 

There were several areas the district saved more money than anticipated, like salaries and benefits. Kang attributes this $3.2 million in savings to staffing vacancies and leave-related recoveries. About $4.5 million was saved in services and supplies, which Kang said reflected ongoing cost management and operational efficiencies. 

“I just want to point out that although the $71.6 million in service and supplies appears to be below budget … relative to the prior year, that number is an increase of about $5 million” he said. 

Over the past few years, the district has made large cuts in services, including axing the grade 7 band program to make up for budget shortfalls. 

“There still continue to be overall pressures on the operating fund that stay on top of mind or on our radar on an ongoing basis,” said Kang. 

Other than the decrease in student enrolment, he also highlighted the need to refresh or upgrade aging infrastructure like technology, equipment and furniture. 

“The district does not have a periodic or routine asset refresh process, in which we are swapping out dated end-of-life type equipment … If a periodic routine is not built in, you have these ebbs and flows of years of no expenditures, and you have years of significant expenditures because all of your assets are now dated and need to be refreshed.”

Substitute teacher costs have also increased by over 100 per cent. In 2021 the cost was around $20 million, but now the amount sits at almost $42 million. 

Of the $45 million surplus, $27 million has already been restricted internally to address or fund updating IT infrastructure, enrolment stabilization, early career mentorships and educational assistance training, to name a few. 

Of the remaining $17 million of the surplus, Kang said the amount is “a buffer to ensure that any short-term uncertainties are absorbed and [the district has] the ability then [to] plan strategically to ensure that we maintain our fiscal sustainability.”