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Construction on long-awaited Surrey high school to start in January

Company chosen to build new secondary school in crowded Clayton north neighbourhood.
28140surreyClaytonHeightsSurrey
A new high school slated to be built in the north area of Clayton in Surrey will help alleviate extreme overcrowding at Clayton Heights Secondary (shown here) and Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary.

A construction company has been chosen to build a much-needed high school in one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods of Surrey.

DGS Construction Company Ltd. won the contract to build the new school in the Clayton area, near 72 Avenue and 184 Street. The company submitted the lowest qualified bid of just under $38.7 million.

Eight other companies also presented bids for the job, ranging from $38.9 million to $45.6 million.

The new school will take pressure off of Clayton Heights and Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary schools, which have been over-capacity for several years. They both have hundreds more students than they were built for.

Four years ago, Lord Tweedsmuir (LT) was forced to implement a flex schedule, with different grades starting and finishing the school day at different times to accommodate the overflow of students. In addition, LT has 13 make-shift portable classrooms on site, while Clayton has 10.

The new Clayton north high school has been a long time coming, as the provincial government first committed to funding the project in 2013. The money didn't come until August 2014, however, and the Ministry of Education only approved the project going to tender last month.

Building is expected to begin in January, with hopes the school can open in spring 2018.

Last month, in proposing boundary moves to alleviate crowding at some elementary schools, the district said all schools in the Clayton area are under "extreme enrolment pressures."