Bossier Parish School Board accepts $6.194 million low bid for Benton High classroom wing and storm shelter
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Summary
Procurement staff reported seven bids for Benton High’s 12-classroom addition and accompanying tornado shelter; Mayfield Construction was the low responsive bidder at $6,194,000 and the board approved the contract amid questions about why designer estimates were substantially higher than bid results.
Procurement staff presented the results of a March 4 bid opening for a new 12-classroom wing and tornado shelter at Benton High School and recommended awarding the contract to the lowest responsive bidder, Mayfield Construction.
“Mayfield Construction came in with a low bid at $6,194,000 and we are recommending them for award and giving superintendent authorization to execute the contract,” the presenter (identified in the meeting as Miss Douglas) told the board.
Board members asked whether the bid price included the required storm shelter. The presenter confirmed the storm shelter is included, and one board member noted that historically the storm shelter portion has been about 25–30% of a similar project’s cost.
A board member pressed staff on why the district’s designer estimate was roughly 30–34% higher than the low bids. The procurement presenter said the architect had compared several recently completed projects by different firms and that similar projects in neighboring districts also showed bids substantially under designer estimates, suggesting a market effect and recent contractor interest in these projects.
The board confirmed project scope details during questioning: the addition is single-story, contains 12 classrooms and one computer lab. District staff reported estimated FF&E and technology costs for the 12 classrooms at $183,000.
The board voted to award the contract after a motion by Mr. Newman and a second by Mr. Bullard; the motion carried after both verbal and electronic voting were completed.
Next steps: the superintendent’s office is authorized to execute the construction contract and staff will proceed with contractor onboarding and scheduling.
