As enrollment rises, Surrey considers building higher schools – BC
As school districts in British Columbia struggle with enrollment pressures and a shortage of available building land, the recently announced school expansions in Surrey could be a harbinger of things to come.
Earlier this month, the province announced an expansion of Fleetwood Park Secondary School to accommodate an additional 800 students.
The project will also be four stories high, indicating a growing interest in building tall rather than wide in a region where land prices are rising.
The renovation follows the recently opened four-storey extension to Sullivan Heights Secondary in Surrey.
Fleetwood Park is one of six schools in Surrey moving to an extended school day this fall to help address overcrowding. The two-story school has plenty of portable equipment.
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“Land prices are so high and by the time they are finalised, there are usually already a lot of bids,” said Education Minister Rachna Singh.
“So it’s a great opportunity (to make better use of existing real estate) because the school districts are the owners and operators of the school properties.”
Surrey City Councillor Linda Annis said anything the province can do to limit land use could help speed up construction in a district with a rapidly increasing student population.
Annual enrollment in Surrey, already British Columbia’s most populous school district, has tripled in recent years, from 800 to 2,500 new students.
“A lot of the cost of building schools is land prices, so if we can build taller instead of wider, that’s a great idea,” Annis said.
“We have to think outside the box.”
However, Annis believes the province and city should take the concept further and integrate schools into the high-rise buildings planned along the new Surrey-Langely SkyTrain line.
“It’s convenient for parents who go to work every day and can easily drop their kids off at school,” she said. “Having a school and daycare is a great convenience.”
Surrey residents Global News spoke to on Monday seemed excited about the idea of building high schools.
“If you have the land, go up. I went to a school that had multiple floors, big, wide staircases,” Harvey Miller said.
“I think it’s a great idea to live in one building instead of having portable buildings. This way the children can stay in the same building and socialize,” added Karina Sewak.
Although many secondary schools in Surrey are two storeys high, the idea of building higher is not new.
Many high schools in Vancouver, especially older buildings such as Vancouver Technical Secondary and Point Grey Secondary, are multi-story buildings.
The expansion of Fleetwood Park is scheduled to be completed in 2029.
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