SURREY, B.C. - British Columbia's government has announced school construction projects worth almost $100 million in Surrey after parents in the province's fastest-growing city said overcrowding has reached unacceptable levels.
Premier Christy Clark said two new schools and additions at several schools will create 2,700 extra student spaces.
Work to replace portables at some schools and the additions to buildings is set to start this summer and be ready in September 2017, she said Friday.
Clark said construction on the two new schools, Grandview Heights Secondary and Clayton North Elementary, is expected to begin next year.
The secondary school will provide spaces for 1,500 students, with completion expected by 2020, while the elementary school will add 605 spaces when it is scheduled to open at the end of 2019.
Earlier this week, Surrey parents rallied at the B.C. legislature demanding help for the estimated 7,000 students being taught in portables in the overcrowded Surrey school district.
One school is so crowded that students attend classes in shifts.
Surrey parent Cindy Dalgliesh said parents are worried that overcrowding contributes to loss of student attachment to school culture and raises the possibility they will join gangs.
Opposition New Democrat Leader John Horgan said overcrowding at Surrey schools has become a crisis.
He said in a statement that the government's plan fails to recognize the rapid population growth in Surrey and that up to 4,500 students will still have classes in portables despite the new projects.
Education Minister Mike Bernier said the government has been working with Surrey school district officials for months on creating more school spaces in Surrey.
“With all the people moving to Surrey, and the amount of students there, obviously we need to continue making investments,” he said.
Bernier said he is aware some B.C. school districts are dealing with difficult decisions as they consider closing schools due to low enrolment.
The school board in the south Okanagan community of Osoyoos voted recently to close the only high school in town. Schools in nearby Penticton and Summerland, as well as two elementary schools in the Vancouver Island community of Campbell River have also been shuttered.
School boards in Prince George, Armstrong and Quesnel managed to avert school closures this year after confronting budget issues.
Bernier announced a $45-million fix-it fund earlier this week for schools across British Columbia to undertake routine maintenance work to extend the lives of their schools.
