Safer classrooms coming for Coquitlam students
Students and staff will soon be in safer, modern classrooms with funding approved for a seismic replacement of Montgomery Middle school.
“Our government is committed to building, expanding and upgrading schools throughout B.C. to ensure all students are learning in safe, supportive environments,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “This replacement school will provide students in Coquitlam a safer, new school that will benefit this community for years to come.”
The Province’s $86.5-million investment will have 600 student spaces and also include the addition of a neighbourhood learning centre, which will offer Indigenous programming. In keeping with the Province’s CleanBC emissions-reduction goals, the school will be designed with a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of more than 75% compared to a LEED Gold baseline building. The replacement school is expected to be ready to welcome students and staff in fall 2028.
Over the past seven years, the provincial government has approved more than $416 million to create more than 2,600 new student seats and 1,375 seismically safe seats in the Coquitlam School District. This includes the creation of 775 seismically safe seats at Irvine Elementary and Moody Elementary, the recently completed Coast Salish Elementary, which created 430 new student spaces, as well as the prefabricated addition to Scott Creek Middle school, which will provide 250 additional seats as early as fall 2024.
“The seismic replacement of Montgomery Middle school will provide safe, modern classroom spaces for students, furthering the School District 43 Board of Education’s goal to provide world-class learning facilities for the communities we serve,” said Michael Thomas, chair, School District 43 Coquitlam Board of Education. “We are also pleased that the building will be built with environmental considerations at the forefront.”
Since September 2017, the B.C. government has approved $4.9 billion for new and improved schools, and land purchases for schools in the province. This has resulted in more than 35,000 new student spaces and more than 35,000 seismically safe seats at B.C. schools.
Budget 2024 includes $3.75 billion for school capital projects over the next three years, including new and expanded schools, seismic upgrades and replacements, and land purchases for schools.
Learn More:
To learn more about the Coquitlam School District, visit: https://www.sd43.bc.ca
For more information about major public school capital projects underway, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/capital/major-capital-projects