SOUND OFF: Expanded Valleyview Secondary will help students thrive

LAST WEEK, THE COMMUNITY had much to celebrate as students returned to expanded and modern classrooms at Valleyview Secondary. Our government invested $32.7 million to add 525 seats to the school, bringing the total capacity up to 1,200 students. The Kamloops-Thompson School District provided an additional $1.75 million.

The school now has 20 more classrooms, a new gymnasium, multi-purpose spaces and innovative learning environments like film studios, a drafting room, as well as gender-neutral washrooms and change rooms. We know that schools are the heart of their communities, and these improvements will help students who attend Valleyview Secondary to thrive and achieve their best, now and in the future.

We’ll keep working to provide wrap-around supports in Kamloops-Thompson and throughout the province. When Parkcrest Elementary was lost to a fire in 2019, our government approved $34.8 million in funding to build a new, modern Parkcrest Elementary with additional capacity for 120 more students than the former school. The school district has contributed $300,000 to this project and the City of Kamloops has committed as much as $2.5 million to nearly double the size of the school gymnasium, highlighting what we can achieve through partnerships. Construction is underway and I am looking forward to the new Parkcrest Elementary re-opening in 2024.

We know the leaders of tomorrow are in our classrooms today. As a government that cares deeply about supporting school communities, we will continue to work closely with the Kamloops-Thompson School District to advance their capital plans and find beneficial solutions to enrolment growth. The district currently has our support to develop business cases for new elementary schools in the growing Pineview Valley and Batchelor Heights neighbourhoods, and we are looking forward to continuing our relationship with the board to advance these priorities.