Further pandemic supports are coming for B.C. students and schools, with 300,000 rapid antigen test kits to be delivered in phases.

Thousands of students in Surrey are now enjoying the benefits of new and expanded schools in their neighbourhoods.

This week, 200,000 rapid antigen test kits are being shipped to the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 (K-12) sector for use by staff, teachers and administrators with symptoms of COVID-19.

Students, teachers and support staff will be better supported this year with an additional $204 million in operating and special grants being distributed to public school districts from the Government of B.C.

Premier John Horgan, Rachna Singh, Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives, and Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Education, have released the following statement in celebration of Black Excellence Day:

Francophone elementary students, teachers and staff in Greater Victoria are now learning and working in a temporary modular school on the Braefoot Elementary site in Saanich.

A full return to school for students in kindergarten to Grade 12 will be delayed until Monday, Jan. 10, in order to give public health and B.C. schools additional time to adapt to the impacts of the Omicron variant on communities and schools, and to implement enhanced safety plans to support the continuation of in-class learning.  

A newly built extension to École Panorama Heights Elementary will get Coquitlam students out of portables and into more modern classrooms.