by Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Roy Owens, supervisor of maintenance and operations for Benicia Unified Schools District, last week presented to trustees the latest bids for four major projects at the building shared by Liberty High School and the district office, 350 East K St.

Bids on the projects — toilet room alterations, re-roofing, window replacement and landscaping — were rejected in October when the Board of Trustees followed the advice of Chief Business Officer Tim Rahill, who said the bids “unfortunately … all came in above our budgeted amount, and we would like to go out and rebid those four pieces and do an expanded advertisement to solicit additional interested parties.”

Bids were reopened and accepted up to 1 p.m. December 11. On Thursday, trustees approved all four.

The four bids were: $104,530 to AA Glass Shop for windows; $147,600 to ALCAL Specialty for roof replacement; $134,443 to Construction West Services for toilet room alterations; $183,000 to Neary Landscaping for grounds landscaping.

Earlier in the trustees’ meeting, students from Liberty High gave their own updates to the campus improvements, and Owens took the time to compliment toward them.

“They’re awesome students,” he said. “They’re grasping the project as it was intended.”

“Back in October we asked the board to reject the bids we had received, which had way over-exceeded the budget,” he said.

“We had a mandatory pre-bid walk on Nov. 16, which we had three students from Liberty High School attend. They were very interested.”

Liberty High was the subject of another board matter last week. Superintendent Janice Adams presented a proposal for a science lab for the school.

“I want to give credit to (Liberty Principal) JoAnn Severson. When she got to Liberty, she became an advocate for science instruction,” Adams said.

“After visiting all the science classes at BHS and seeing what kinds of labs and equipment they have, and knowing the limited opportunities that the Liberty students have, there is an inequity.”

Adams said Severson worked with Owens to see what it would take to get a science lab at the school.

BUSD’s course requirements for high school graduation include 20 units of science credit. While Benicia High School students have the advantage of learning in a lab, Liberty High students must learn out of books.

As Adams pointed out, “They are not getting the kind of experiences they would have if they had a lab.”

The board unanimously agreed with Adams’s recommendation to approve $70,000 in funding utilizing Valero/Good Neighbor Steering Committee monies.

“I think it’s a no-brainer, and it’s something we should do,” Trustee Steve Messina said.

“It should have been done a long time ago,” board President Rosie Switzer said.