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AND FRANKLY: Growing demand for school space in Surrey calls for creative solutions

T he high cost and scarcity of land is prompting Surrey School District to look at different ways to open new schools. It is an approach that makes sense, as local governments grapple to figure out how to provide needed services in an increasingly expensive and crowded city.
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The high cost and scarcity of land is prompting Surrey School District to look at different ways to open new schools. It is an approach that makes sense, as local governments grapple to figure out how to provide needed services in an increasingly expensive and crowded city.

The school district is considering “urban schools,” which could be situated in a multi-storey building, perhaps one with other uses. Those could be commercial buildings, or city-run community centres. Some spaces could potentially be shared by the school and other users.

The coming of SkyTrain to Fleetwood has put the issue on the district’s radar screen. There is a need for a new secondary school, but available land is scarce. Secondary schools typically need about 20 acres, to allow for parking, the building itself and sports fields.

There are very few parcels of that size left in Fleetwood, as most of the community has been developed.

Land near the SkyTrain line will be hugely expensive, and the city has already adopted a land use plan for the area that would see 100,000 additional residents join the 47,000 who already live in Fleetwood. Schools are already pressed for space now. Fleetwood Park Secondary is more than 400 students over capacity, and has seven portables on site. That number is expected to rise to 11 in September.

READ MORE: Surrey school district looking at ‘urban’ school models to combat over-crowding

The number of students who will live in Fleetwood when the planned building contemplated in the Stage 1 land use plan will be 8,000 to 12,000 more than at present. That will require plenty of new or expanded schools.

The school district did own one key site in Fleetwood – the site of the former Fleetwood Elementary on 88 Avenue. It was sold years ago, but the land remains vacant. It is surrounded by commercial buildings. Perhaps that property or another in that area could be a potential location for an urban school, connected to commercial space.

The Clayton area may also be a possible location for urban schools. While there are already two secondary schools and four elementary schools in the area north of Fraser Highway, growth is expected to come quickly with SkyTrain. The city is putting together a Clayton Corridor plan that will almost certainly have higher densities than originally envisioned in community plans.

Clayton Elementary, the original school in the area, is currently closed due to the September opening of Regent Road Elementary nearby. It is challenged by a small site on a busy road, but that may make an urban school more of a possibility.

Parking is becoming a problem at current schools as well. Walnut Road Elementary in Fleetwood has parking for 44 staff members, but the actual number of people working there is double that. Future schools may well need to have underground parking, which also makes construction of multi-storey buildings more of a possibility.

Even in areas of Surrey which are nowhere near SkyTrain, it is becoming more difficult to obtain land for school sites. The cost has risen exponentially due to high real estate prices, and large sites are becoming rare.

The mentality in Surrey has been that there is always plenty of vacant land. The discussions at the board of education table on this topic show that is not the case, and some creative thinking is certainly welcome.

Frank Bucholtz writes twice a month for Black Press Media.