SURREY, B.C. — Space for up to 5,200 students will be created over the next three years in Surrey, the largest and fastest-growing school district in British Columbia.
Education Minister Mike Bernier says $217 million has been set aside for capital projects to add the spaces in the Surrey School District.
A newly created Surrey executive project board will oversee the projects, identifying new schools or school expansions so the work can begin as quickly as possible.
Bernier did not say who will serve on the board.
He says it will be made up of school board staff, Education Ministry officials and specialists, such as engineers, anthropologists and others, whose expertise is required to ensure quick construction once projects are approved.
School officials in Surrey have said 7,000 students are taught in portable classrooms.
The Surrey School Coalition, made up of developers, members of the local board of trade and parent advisory councils, recently estimated public school enrolment will grow by 1,000 students annually.
