More schools will be built soon in Surrey, minister says

Seven thousand Surrey students will attend classes in portables this September, but the education minister said Thursday that could soon change, hinting at significant new school construction projects to be announced during the 201819 school year.

“We hope we can build more schools more quickly, and I expect we will have a lot of announcements in the very near future in Surrey that are going to help a backlog situation that we inherited (from the previous government),” Education Minister Rob Fleming told reporters Thursday.

“We will finally be able to plan in advance of growth and start getting rid of portables in the very near future.”

He provided no specific details, but growth could include new schools and/or additions to existing schools.

Surrey has 340 portables, which the NDP had campaigned to eliminate during the May 2017 provincial election.

Instead, the district will add 14 new portables this year, prompting school board chair Laurie Larsen to question whether it is even “an achievable goal” to get rid of them all.

The opposition Liberals criticized the promise as nothing more than an election ploy.

But Fleming noted that this past year, his government approved $147 million in capital projects in Surrey to create more than 2,500 new student spaces.

He hinted similar announcements would be made this year, which could ultimately reduce the number of portables required in the district, which has more than 70,000 students.

Fleming said other fast-growing communities may also see some announcements this year that could eliminate some of their portables.