Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com

At its last meeting of the year Monday night, the Brighton Board of Education approved $381,700 worth of renovations to the science classroom at Brighton High School. The district held a public bidding procedure on Dec. 3rd, and out of five bidders, Midwest Contracting Co. had the lowest bid. The bids ranged from Midwest’s to a high bid of roughly $510,000 submitted by E&L Construction Group.

Trustee John Conely asked if there would be other expenses related to the classroom renovation project and was informed there will be more costs coming up. He was told the room needs furniture, which will cost about $52,000 according to the bids received, and an exhaust hood costing $21,000, putting the total cost at around $450,000.

However, Supt. Matthew Outlaw cautioned that, in his words, “This gives us a ball park of it, but…there are things that are very specific to chemistry, there are things that are very specific to biology, so….those rooms would be a little bit higher.” Outlaw said the district will spend more time with the science teachers to find out exactly what they need, such as additional lab space.

The motion to approve the expenditure passed on a unanimous 6-0 vote. Funding will come from the district’s general fund.