Surrey, B.C. — Families in Surrey will soon benefit from 915 additional elementary seats as part of the B.C. government’s commitment to accelerate school expansion across the province.
“We are committed to investing in Surrey so we have the classrooms needed for students, and we are looking at innovative, fast-tracked solutions for how we do it – and we don’t plan to stop,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “Over the last seven years, we’ve built and opened over 8,200 new student spaces with nearly 6,800 more on the way. There is more work to do, but we are determined to continue delivering more for families in Surrey.”
Forsyth Road Elementary will receive a 14-classroom addition, adding 340 seats to the school, and will include space for child care. George Greenaway Elementary also will get a 14-classroom prefabricated addition, the equivalent of 350 new seats through a new provincial investment of $21 million. City Central Learning Centre will be converted into a new elementary school in Surrey’s City Centre neighbourhood, through a partnership between the Province and the school district, creating 225 elementary seats.
These projects are part of a larger effort by the B.C. government to address the growing student population in Surrey. Recent initiatives include an 800-seat addition for Fleetwood Park Secondary, as well as prefabricated additions at Old Yale Road Elementary, Latimer Road Elementary, William Watson Elementary, and Martha Currie Elementary. Construction is also underway for new schools at Snokomish Elementary and Ta’talu Elementary, and additions at Semiahmoo Trail Elementary and South Meridian Elementary, adding more than 3,500 new student spaces in the city.
Laurie Larsen, chair of the Surrey Board of Education, expressed her support for these investments. “We are committed to working with the Province to ensure that families who choose Surrey as their home are able to attend their neighbourhood schools, and students and staff have the best environments possible to learn and work in.”
Since 2017, the B.C. government has approved more than $5 billion for new schools, improvements, and land purchases across the province.
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