The BC Conservative Party is accusing the provincial government of relying on outdated data when planning and building schools, a practice they say has contributed to overcrowding in new facilities.
The party pointed to the newly built Cedar Hill Middle School in Greater Victoria, which opened in September, as an example of what it calls “poor planning.”
Nearly three months into the school year, the Conservatives are claiming that the school, which welcomes more than 500 students, is already struggling with space shortages.
“While kids and their parents are told that these new builds will solve overcrowding, they soon realize they have been sold a false bill of goods based on yesterday’s numbers,” said Misty Van Popta, Conservative education infrastructure critic.
Popta and her party claimed the problem stems from the province’s reliance on “outdated enrolment projections” and funding models that don’t reflect the recent population growth and new housing developments.
The party also cited similar cases elsewhere in the province, including Surrey’s Grandview Heights Secondary, Salish Secondary, and Coquitlam’s Smiling Creek Elementary, where schools reached or exceeded capacity shortly after opening.
Black Press Media reached out to SD61 for comment. However, since the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association filed a grievance about class sizes at Cedar Hill, the district declined to comment amid the bargaining period.
For her part, Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma told Black Press Media that because community needs are constantly shifting across B.C., the government continues to look for ways to support school districts.
“The province works with school districts each year to assess requests and prioritizes investments based on current and projected needs across the province,” she said.
Ma added that an “unprecedented” population growth has put an “extraordinary pressure” on growing school districts across the province.
“We will work with the Greater Victoria School District to better understand the concerns being raised and whether there are learnings to be incorporated into how future projections are calculated,” she said.
Lynne Block, Conservative education critic, said the trend reflects “government mismanagement and negligence.”
“When a school opens and is already busting at the seams, it’s the result of poor planning,” she said. “B.C. students deserve better.”
In light of this, the party is calling for a new capital planning model that ties school design and capacity to housing and population forecasts rather than what they describe as “conservative enrolment forecasting and shoddy build standards.”
After years of “underinvestment,” Ma said her ministry is now prioritizing the building of new schools.
Since 2017, the province has invested over $173 million to seismically upgrade and expand capacity at schools in the Greater Victoria School District, resulting in 200 new school seats.
To cut the red tape, Ma said that her government managed to cut timelines for business case development by up to a year and is using “innovative building techniques,” such as using prefabricated classrooms, which can be constructed twice as quickly without compromising quality.
“We know there is more work to be done and are committed to working with school districts to deliver for students,” she said.