Educators and parents in the eastern areas of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley heard some welcome words from Premier David Eby during a recent community gathering in Fort Langley.
“We know where the growth is going to be,” Eby said. “We know where the subdivisions are being approved. We know where the density is going. We need to be building the schools at the same time as the community, not after the community is done.”
It’s not a secret to anyone in the fast-growing neighbourhoods of the region that school populations have been booming. Langley has seen net growth of more than 1,000 new students each year for three years running. Maple Ridge is looking at a need for 895 more student spaces by 2030, and another 1,002 by 2035 – and it won’t surprise anyone if those numbers prove to be a bit of a lowball.
With working families priced out of Vancouver and its inner suburbs entirely over the last decade, a handful of (relatively) cheaper communities are absorbing the bulk of growth, and that includes children.
Yet for decades, the provincial policy has been not to build new schools until existing area schools were over capacity.
The reason for this is buried in history. It’s been a while, but there was an era where wild swings in the province’s economy have crashed real estate booms. There were times when whole neighbourhoods were planned and laid out, and millions were thrown at development schemes that evaporated when a recession hit.
It wouldn’t be prudent to pay for a school if the neighbourhood only existed on paper. It might become a white elephant, a multi-million dollar empty building.
Those days are long gone.
Between developments that are already underway, housing that’s already built (and full of kids) and higher levels of immigration planned for the foreseeable future, we don’t have to worry about one or two schools being empty. The worry is about how many portables we’ll need if we don’t build schools faster.
Now that Eby has said the government will do something, it’s time to see action. The provincial Legislature is in session as of this week. A change in legislation could be put forward and begin debate within the next few weeks.
Students, parents, and teachers deserve to have the schools they need.
– M.C.