B.C.’s Education Minister says there will be “important news coming very soon” when it comes to announcements about new school projects in Kamloops.

Rachna Singh was in Kamloops Monday to announce the Anti-Racism Action Plan for K-12 students, but made no announcements about new schools for the city, like the long-awaited Pineview Valley Elementary School.

“Since yesterday when I came, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the boards of education and the school district and the challenges that this community is facing especially in increased enrolment. That is an issue that we are very cognizant of,” Singh said during a media scrum. “We are very supportive of the projects that they have outlined. A lot of work is being done but some important news [is] coming very soon.”

“One school that did come up was the, I understand Pinewood Elementary,” Singh added.

“I am an MLA from Surrey, which is one of the fastest growing communities, and the same challenges that we are seeing in Surrey, that is what the school district was telling us about here. But yeah, Pinewood definitely did come up.”

The new Pineview Valley Elementary has been one of SD73’s top priorities for a couple of years, with the district expecting it to cost at least $33-million. In October, SD73 officials told NL News they have done all that is needed of them, and that they’re waiting for that funding announcement so the project can move ahead.

Speaking Monday, SD73 Board Chair Heather Grieve says they were able to raise a number of issues directly to the Minister.

“So we had an opportunity to talk about Pineview Valley and we shared that on May 19, 2021, the former Minister of Education and Childcare, Minister [Jennifer] Whiteside, had announced that she was supporting a business case for that project,” Grieve said.

“We’ve got significant overcrowding at McGowan Elementary and then we don’t have options really for any kind of catchment changes when you look at the adjacent schools being very much over capacity and using portables.”

While the new Batchelor Heights elementary school did not come up in discussion as it is still in the early stages, Grieve says they did discuss plans for a new secondary school in Aberdeen with the Minister, noting that SD73 needs provincial support so they can buy the property the have in mind for the school.

“And so, it was a great opportunity to highlight those two things [Pineview Valley and Aberdeen Secondary] that have been very public for Kamloops and also in letters to the previous minister,” SD73 Superintendent Rhonda Nixon added Monday.

“So she was receptive. No promises, nothing in writing yet, but you know what, we are excited that she listened.”

With SD73 student enrolment nearing 16,000 students, the district had had to make a number of catchment area changes in recent years, which they say is only a temporary solution.

“In order to really give an environment where students are able to be fully engaged in school culture and things like that, we have a need to increase our space and with increased space comes capital projects,” Grieve said.

Editors note – SD73 Board Chair Heather Grieve will join the NL Morning News with Jeff Andreas at 7:40 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24. B.C. Education Minister Rachna Singh will join the NL Morning News at 8:40 a.m.