Students in the West Shore got some good news today with an announcement that Royal Bay will receive expansion funds.
The school, which opened in 2015, is already operating at 135 per cent capacity, and has 10 portables to accommodate the extra students. The B.C. government will be providing $23.2-million for an expansion, and the Sooke School District will be contributing an additional $2-million to add an additional 21 classrooms and a second gym.
The Liberal government knew before approving the school that it would be at capacity once it opened.
“We’ve got the largest capital budget for school construction in B.C. history because we do need to get out of the backlog of seismic upgrades, we do need to get kids out of portables in fast growing suburbs in British Columbia, and we need to do a better job of maintaining existing schools,” Fleming said. “All of that is possible because the budget we have is finally putting the kinds of capital investments we need in our school system.”
The school will remain open while construction is underway, and it is expected to be complete by fall 2020.