Apr 06, 2023 – Jane Seyd/North Shore News

Parents whose kids attend school in the central city area of North Vancouver say they’re still dealing with overcrowded schools five years after the school district put a new elementary school at the top of its priority list and three years after the province promised money for a new school had been set aside.

Originally earmarked as a $21.6 million project five years ago, the estimated cost to build the new 585-seat school are now “well over $60 million” said North Vancouver Lonsdale MLA Bowinn Ma, who remains nonetheless optimistic a funding announcement is coming soon.

Ma said she understands parents’ frustrations.

But government had to prioritize seismic upgrades, she said – three of which have been finished in North Vancouver in the last year and a half.

Ma said the scale of cost escalation on the Cloverley project has meant the plans had to go through an additional review. The province also requested a “mass timber option” be included in potential plans.

That work is still in the final stages, said Ma, adding she hopes it will result in a funding announcement soon. “The next school will be Cloverley,” she said.

Read the full article at nsnews.com.