The Surrey school district has topped the province once again with student enrolment growth.
For the 2019-2020 school year, the district increased by 1,039 school-age full-time equivalent students, according to a release from the Ministry of Education Wednesday (Dec. 18).
The next highest growth was the Burnaby school district with 441 new students (23,875 enrolled as of September), followed by Central Okanagan with 377 new students (23,056 enrolled), Langley with 336 new students (20,890 enrolled) and Sooke with 281 new students (11,114).
As of September, 72,522 students were enrolled in the Surrey school district. That’s up from the 71,483 enrolled in September 2018.
In August, the Surrey school district said it was expecting between 1,000 and 1,200 new students to enrol for for 2019-2020 school year. The projected enrolment total was 74,700.
READ ALSO: More than 74,000 Surrey students expected to enrol in district this year, Aug. 30, 2019
For the past three years, at least, the Surrey school district has topped the province in growth, with roughly 1,000 new students each year. There were 1,152 new students enrolled in September 2018, 959 new students enrolled in September 2017 and 993 new students enrolled in September 2016.
“More and more families and students are coming to B.C., and we are ensuring they can access our world-class public education system with increased funding and support,” said Minister of Education Rob Fleming in the release. “This year, B.C.’s public school districts are receiving significantly more funding than ever before, including more funding for Indigenous education and increased support for students with special needs.”
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lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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