Cloverdale families can look forward to the new Regent Road Elementary school now under construction thanks to additional funding from the Government of B.C.

“Students are seeing the real benefits of increased investments in Surrey’s schools, with hundreds of portables being reduced in favour of positive, engaging and inspiring new learning environments,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. “The last government announced this school years ago, but didn’t provide enough funding to make it happen. We’re doing things differently, making investments to help more students thrive in learning environments as soon as possible.”

The Government of B.C. is providing an additional $5.8 million to ensure construction could begin on the Regent Road Elementary, while the Surrey School District is providing $1.5 million, for a total budget of $33.3 million. With shovels now in the ground, the 655-seat school is scheduled to open in September 2022, eliminating the need for about 26 portables at nearby schools.

Since September 2017, the Province has announced $410 million for 26 school capital projects in the Surrey School District, 15 new or expanded schools and land purchases for four future schools. These investments are helping to create nearly 8,900 new student seats in Surrey between 2018 and 2023.

“This is an exciting time for students and families in Cloverdale, who now have the certainty they were looking for with construction underway to build the new Regent Road Elementary school,” said Laurie Larsen, chair, Surrey Board of Education. “We appreciate the added investment from the Province to ensure this school can open its doors in September 2022 and provide a modern and optimal learning environment for our students.”

In the last three years, government has announced over $2.1 billion for 103 school capital projects, creating nearly 29,000 seismically safer student seats and more than 13,000 new student seats at new and improved schools throughout B.C.

To continue this momentum, Budget 2020 includes a record $2.8 billion for seismic upgrades and replacements, new and expanded schools and land purchases for future schools.

Learn More:

For more information about the new Regent Road Elementary school: https://www.surreyschools.ca/departments/BMGS/projects/projectdetails/Pages/regentroad.aspx

A backgrounder follows.