Hundreds of new student spaces coming to Kelowna middle school

A Kelowna middle school is getting 300 new student spaces as part of a major B.C. school construction push.

A new addition at École Dr. Knox Middle School is among 23 new and improved school projects opening across the province this September.

The projects are creating space for about 4,700 more students in 16 communities, with more than $560 million in provincial funding.

The province says the Knox Middle School addition will add 300 seats to the school.

The announcement comes as Premier David Eby marks the 250th major school capital project completed or underway in B.C. since 2017.

Since then, the province says more than $7 billion has been approved for school capital projects, creating nearly 50,000 new student spaces and making almost 40,000 existing spaces seismically safer.

The province says 51 more school capital projects are currently underway, including 13 new schools, 27 additions, 10 seismic upgrades or replacements and one renovation.

Other projects opening this month include new schools in North Vancouver, Richmond, Vancouver and Kamloops, along with additions and seismic upgrades in communities across the province.