TWO new Surrey school projects are planned to move forward as part of Budget 2024, including a new school and an addition.
“With nearly 350,000 more people choosing B.C. as their home in the last two and a half years, the Province is focused on building services for a growing population,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care, on Friday. “We are expanding school spaces and will work on acquiring new school sites to support the school district, so we can continue to support Surrey families now and into the future.”
A new Darts Hill area elementary and an addition to Grandview Heights Secondary are supported to begin planning as part of Budget 2024, which is the largest school capital budget in the Province’s history.
Over the past six years, the Province has invested significantly in new and expanded schools in Surrey with more than $750 million to create 12,400 new student seats. Construction is currently underway for the new Snokomish Elementary and Ta’talu Elementary, and additions to Semiahmoo Trail Elementary and South Meridian Elementary. In 2023, school additions opened at K.B. Woodward Elementary, Morgan Elementary, White Rock Elementary and Sunnyside Elementary with funding announced to expand Tamanawis Secondary, Guildford Park Secondary and Kwantlen Park Secondary school.
“Our school district has been growing at a very rapid pace, averaging over 2,400 new students annually in the past two years,” said Laurie Larsen, Chair, Surrey Board of Education. “This level of growth underscores the urgent need for investments like this in new schools and expansions. We are very appreciative that these two projects can now move ahead to the business planning phase, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Province to further increase capacity in our district.”
In fall of 2023, the Province also provided funding to start prefabricated additions at Walnut Road, Lena Shaw, and Woodland Park elementary schools to help meet increased enrolment in the school district. The prefabricated classrooms will deliver 875 new seats and are expected to be ready for students this fall.
Working with partners at the school district, local government and provincial levels to deliver the schools Surrey students and their families need, continues to be a top priority for the Province.
Budget 2024 includes $3.75 billion for school capital projects over the next three years, including new and expanded schools, seismic upgrades and replacements, and land purchases for future schools.
Quick Facts:
* “Supported to begin planning” means government is supporting the school district to proceed with developing a business case for both the Darts Hill Elementary and Grandview Heights Secondary projects.
* When finalized, the business cases, which detail the scope, schedule and budget for the projects, will be brought forward to government for final funding approval.
* Depending on the scale of a project, a finalized business case takes an average of eight months.
* Following funding approval, the projects proceed to design and construction.
