Dr. Charles Best Secondary to get $18-million expansion, space for 300 more students

The student capacity of Dr. Charles Best Secondary will be expanded by 300 seats by fall, 2025, the province announced recently.

The $18-million investment will result in 10 additional classrooms, corridors and lockers in a prefabricated two-storey building, which can be built quicker than traditional school expansions, according to a May 10 release from the province.

“We are pleased to add much-needed student spaces to Dr. Charles Best Secondary,” said Michael Thomas, chair of the Coquitlam School District’s board of education. “We are also very proud to have been leaders in utilizing this model of prefabricated classroom additions and know that this model will serve students for many years to come.”

Funding additional classrooms is part of a larger $300 million investment to create over 2,600 new student seats in the Coquitlam School District over the last seven years.

Other investments include the creation of 1,145 seismically safe seats at Irvine Elementary and Moody Elementary; 430 new seats at the recently completed Coast Salish Elementary; and another prefabricated addition to Scott Creek Middle school, which will add 250 more seats as early as fall 2024.

This is the second prefabricated building to be built at Dr. Charles Best Secondary, after 150 seats were added in 2021.

“As more families continue to make Coquitlam their home, it’s important we keep up with the growing demand on our schools,” said Rick Glumac, MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam. “With this addition at Dr. Charles Best Secondary school, we are making progress on meeting enrolment growth in our district.”

The provincial government has spent more than $4 billion improving and building schools, as well as land purchases for future schools since 2017. These measures have resulted in more than 25,000 new student spaces and over 35,000 seismically safe seats.

The most recent 2024 provincial budget includes $3.75 billion for school capital projects over the next three years, including school expansions, seismic upgrades, replacements and land purchases.

“With record population growth, our government continues to invest in our schools as more cities like Coquitlam welcome new students to their classrooms,” said Minister of Education and Child Care Rachna Singh. “That is why we are taking action to find ways to build and open more classrooms faster.”

The news for Dr. Charles Best Secondary was part of a slew of school-spending announcements by the province this week, which also included a new elementary school in Burnaby and an expansion to an elementary school in Powell River.