The Benicia Unified School District is currently discussing how best to use the remaining funds in the Measure S budget. A quarterly update on the Measure S bond will be delivered at Thursday’s school board meeting.

Measure S is an initiative approved by Benicia voters in 2014 to provide $49.6 million in bond funding for renovation and upgrades of school facilities. As of now, 11 projects funded by Measure S have been completed, including playground upgrades at all the elementary schools, repairing the roofs at Benicia Middle School and Mary Farmar Elementary School, upgrading the phone systems at all schools, replacing the softball field bleachers at Benicia High School, replacing the fire alarms at Benicia Middle and Benicia High, and renovating the Benicia High stadium.

At the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee meeting on Jan. 31, staff discussed several projects in progress, including the modernization of Benicia Middle School’s campus, fire alarm upgrades at the five remaining district schools, elementary and/or high school modernizations, replacing the gym floor at Benicia High and alternative education improvements. Other projects being planned are a replacement of the bathrooms at Joe Henderson Elementary School, security upgrades, modernization of Farmar’s campus and improvements to Benicia High’s Performing Arts Building (PAB). The district applied for funding of a PAB Career Technical Education grant which, if awarded, would require BUSD to match it with up to a maximum of $3 million in local funds. If the grant is not awarded, then a minimum amount of $400,000 was discussed to be allocated for improvements to the 37-year-old building. Roxanne Egan, Measure S bond director, said BUSD is waiting to hear back from the state and anticipates a response by June.

In other matters, BUSD will vote to set the retention for the fire alarm projects at all BUSD schools slated to receive them at 10 percent because the projects are considered “substantially complex,” according to Egan. Dr. Leslie Beatson, assistant superintendent of educational services, will be presenting preliminary highlights from BUSD’s Strategic Plan and Local Control Accountability Plan, and the board will highlight the technology integration work being done by tech integration coach Alberto Barcenas at the transitional kindergarten through eighth-grade level.

The board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 3 in the Benicia Unified School District Board Room at the district building on 350 East K St. There will be an earlier closed session at 5:30 p.m.

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