Surrey to get a new school and an addition as part of B.C. budget

B.C.’s fastest-growing city will be getting two new schools, the provincial government announced on Friday.

As part of the B.C. budget, a new Darts Hill area elementary and an addition to Grandview Heights Secondary School will be built to support the growing population.

Last fall, the government also provided funding to start prefabricated additions at Walnut Road, Lena Shaw, and Woodland Park elementary schools to add 875 new seats.

“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,” Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care, said in a statement.

“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.”

2:13 Surrey school board approves plan to stagger student start times amid overcrowding

Construction is also 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.

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The chair of the Surrey Board of Education said the district has been growing, with an average of 2,400 new students annually over the past two years.

Budget 2024 includes $3.75 billion for school capital projects over the next three years in the province, including new and expanded schools, seismic upgrades and replacements, and land purchases for future schools.

2:06 Surrey council votes down school sites proposal

In February, the Surrey School Board voted on a plan to try and address overcrowding in its schools.

In the plan, the school board said staggering start and end times for some students will increase capacity. The change could come for some schools next fall.

It would mean school days would be extended to five class periods, with students attending four of them. That would mean longer days for staff.

The board said this solution would allow schools to increase capacity by 10 to 15 per cent but would cost thousands for extra staffing pay.

Currently, Surrey schools are overcrowded, with the district using nearly 400 portables.