B.C.’s Ministry of Education has approved $39.8 million in funding for a new addition at K.B. Woodward Elementary and seismic upgrades to Prince Charles Elementary and Queen Elizabeth Secondary.
The 240-seat addition at K.B. Woodward will see eight new classrooms and two renovated classrooms, expected to be ready for students in January 2023. Elsewhere, the seismic upgrades at Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth are both scheduled for completion in 2022, “creating 2,040 safe seats,” according to the ministry.
The North Surrey-area schools are highlighted in a government news release titled “More classrooms, safer seats coming to Surrey students,” sent Tuesday (Sept. 1), and also in a statement posted to Surrey Schools’ website.
“This announcement is welcome news for our students, staff and larger school community,” stated Laurie Larsen, chair, Surrey Board of Education. “The classroom addition at K.B. Woodward Elementary and seismic upgrades to Prince Charles Elementary and Queen Elizabeth Secondary will allow our district to continue meeting our growing community’s needs in a safe and sustainable manner.”
The Ministry of Education boasts that since September 2017, the provincial government has announced $403 million for 25 school capital projects in the Surrey School District, including seismic upgrades at six schools, 14 new or expanded schools and land purchases for four future schools. “These investments are bringing 4,120 seismically safer seats to the community and are helping to create nearly 8,900 new student seats in Surrey between 2018 and 2023,” the release notes.
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An updated School Construction Progress page is posted to surreyschools.ca.
The following school expansion projects are underway in the Surrey School District:
• Coyote Creek Elementary (100-seat addition, expected completion November 2020)
• Frost Road Elementary (150-seat addition, expected completion September 2020)
• Sullivan Elementary (200-seat addition, expected completion January 2021)
• Maddaugh Elementary (605-seat new school, expected completion February 2021)
• Edgewood Elementary (655-seat new school, expected completion January 2021)
• Douglas Elementary (605-seat school, expected completion November 2020)
• Grandview Heights Secondary (1,500-seat new school, expected completion September 2021)
• Sullivan Heights Secondary (700-seat addition, expected completion November 2021)
• Regent Road Elementary (655-seat new school, expected completion September 2022)
• Sunnyside Elementary (250-seat addition, expected completion fall 2022)
• White Rock Elementary (195-seat addition, expected completion fall 2022)
• Morgan Elementary (190-seat addition, expected completion January 2023)
• K.B. Woodward Elementary (240-seat expansion, expected completion January 2023)
• Ta’talu Elementary (655-seat new school, expected completion September 2023)
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