Fast-growing Sooke district receives funding for 3 new Vancouver Island schools
The B.C. government has announced funding to build three new schools in the Sooke district, one of the fastest-growing in the province.
Premier John Horgan and Education Minister Rob Fleming said the province will provide $88.6 million to build a 500-seat elementary school and a 700-seat middle school in Langford, located on southern Vancouver Island.
"These two new state-of-the-art schools coming to Langford will deliver the modern learning environments our children need, while also providing spaces for community organizations and events," said Horgan at the announcement in Langford on Monday.
The province also announced it will provide $18.6 million for a new secondary school site in Langford with the Sooke School District contributing $250,000 to the project. There is no start date for that school which is expected to accommodate 800 students.
The middle and elementary schools will be built on a 6.5-hectare site purchased in 2017 with $23.3 million from the province and $1.6 million from the Sooke School District. The location is less than five minutes from Belmont Secondary School.
"We've been waiting a long time for this announcement," Ravi Parmar, chair of the Sooke School District told Robyn Burns, host of All Points West.
"Government, prior to making this announcement, has allowed us to start work in terms of consulting with architects and design firms as well as also looking at levelling the land," Parmar said.
The new elementary school and the middle school are both expected to be ready in September 2022, according to the province.
Quick enrolment climb
The Sooke School District has 11,000 students and is seeing population growth of four to five per cent each year. Surrey — B.C.'s other fastest-growing school district — has a one per cent per year growth projection.
The Sooke district estimates enrolment growth over the next 10 years will total at least 2,000 more students.
The province and school district credit this growth to the area's appeal to young families.
Both Langford's middle and elementary schools are overcapacity and rely on portable classrooms.
"We're really excited to open these schools so we can have portables be temporary solutions for our growing enrolment challenges," said Parmar.
Parmar projects that construction will begin as soon as January 2020.
Listen to the full interview here:
With files from All Points West and CHEK News.
