Maple Ridge families will have access to a brand new school in the future, as the province announced Tuesday it has purchased land in the east Albion neighbourhood.
The province predicts that all existing elementary schools will be over capacity in Maple Ridge by 2028. To address this, the property, near 249th Street and 108th Avenue, will house a new school thanks to provincial funding of $5.4 million.
"We are grateful to the Ministry of Education for making another important investment in our school district," said Korleen Carreras, chair of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows board of education in a news release.
"The acquisition of a school site in east Albion will allow our district to consider new schools, ensuring that this fast-developing community has the educational services it needs to support its growth."
The province's 2019 budget allocated $2.7 billion for school capital projects including new schools, land purchases and seismic upgrades.
"Our government is building new schools in fast-growing communities like Maple Ridge, where many families have moved over the last decade," said Rob Fleming, education minister in a news release.
"For too long, the previous government put new school construction on the backburner. I'm looking forward to working with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows board of education to make this new school happen."
The school district says it will work with the province on the new school's development, but there was no timeline given for its development.
Over the summer, Maple Ridge schools were also the focus of provincial programming when the B.C. government announced they would be among the first to get new mental health and substance use services in their schools.
At the time the province said Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows was picked for the launch of integrated child and youth teams because of proactive steps it had already taken in mental health support. Over the next two years, four more school districts will get similar support teams.
