CASTLEGAR – Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy says students in Castlegar will benefit from safer, more efficient schools thanks to over $1.4 million in provincial funding for school upgrade projects in the Kootenay-Columbia School District.

“Students deserve learning environments that meet their needs, but we know for too long our schools were neglected,” said Conroy. “That’s why I’m proud to be part of a government investing in safe, clean, and comfortable learning environments for our kids.”

The Kootenay-Columbia School District (SD 20) is receiving $1,417,266 in funding for electrical upgrades for Stanley Humphries Secondary and the addition of three new school buses.

These funding programs are part of a $206 million provincial investment under the Annual Facilities Grant, School Enhancement Program, Carbon Neutral Capital Program and Bus Replacement Program, to ensure students have well-maintained learning environments and bus services that are safe, comfortable and efficient. This year’s funding is a $500,000 increase from the previous year, and a $20.6 million increase from 2016/17.

Since September 2017, the New Democrat government has also approved nearly $2.6 million for school upgrades across the district.

The New Democrat government has delivered historic levels of funding to B.C. schools, including the biggest operative and capital budgets in B.C. history, an extra $1-billion in classroom funding over 2016/17, $2.7-billion over three years to build, seismically upgrade and expand K-12 schools, and a new annual $5-million playground fund.

Learn More: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2019EDUC0019-000324