Dear Community Member,

I wanted to acknowledge an article that will likely be printed in the North Shore News on Wednesday, March 26, 2019, titled “Province shoots down North Van School District’s request for new Cloverley school” and assure all concerned community members that our work at the provincial level to fund new schools and school upgrades continues.

In the 20 months since we formed government, we’ve been moving at lightning speeds to secure funding for school projects across the province, including here in North Vancouver. The 2019 BC Budget includes a historic $2.7 billion for K-12 capital projects.

In the last year alone we’ve been able to see important progress on many school projects in North Vancouver, including a full replacement for Handsworth Secondary, seismic upgrades at Mountainside Secondary, new playgrounds at Norgate Elementary and Larson Elementary, and a boost in funding for facility maintenance and upgrades. I also look forward to the completion of Argyle Secondary, approved in 2015, which was the last school approved under the previous government.

I’m aware of the pressures that the school district is facing in terms of elementary classroom availability since classroom sizes were lowered. In 2018, I wrote to the Minister of Education in support of a new Cloverley Elementary School and have continued to advocate for this within government.

All school districts are invited to submit their capital plans in June and I anticipate that a new elementary school at the Cloverley site will continue to be a priority in their 5-year plan so I will continue to work hard to get this project over the finish line.

Thank you for making public education one of your priorities. I look forward to more good news for North Vancouver in the near future!

In your service,

Bowinn Ma, MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale