The Uintah School Board voted Wednesday night to accept a bid from BHI to build a new Agriculture Sciences classroom building at Uintah High School.
The unanimous vote to accept BHI's $3,581,880 bid for the project came after more than an hour-and-a-half of discussion by board members. The board also heard comment from Uintah High School agriculture teacher David Wilson as well as some of his current and former students.
"I've always thought of agriculture as academic; every bit as academic as mathematics down the hall or science upstairs (at Uintah High)," Wilson told the board. "I have a lot of kids that, agriculture is just something they love. And the need for and the careers in agriculture are just tremendous right now."
In June, the board approved a budget that included $2 million for construction of the Ag Sciences classroom building. That amount was based on estimated construction costs at the time. USD Business Administrator Jason Johnson told the board Wednesday night that the bids the district subsequently received were well above the budgeted amount due to a number of factors, including inflation.
Following the board's unanimous vote Wednesday, Uintah Schools Superintendent Rick Woodford said the addition of the Ag Sciences building will help Uintah High continue to develop world-class agricultural education and FFA programs.
"This new, purpose-built space will provide our students with learning opportunities that will help inspire them to reach their full potential in agricultural sciences," Woodford said.
"Continuing to improve our educational offerings for those who will one day feed our community and our nation is one of the most important things our district can do," the superintendent said. "The board's decision tonight is a big win for our students and for the future of agriculture in Uintah County and beyond."
Now that BHI has formally been awarded the bid, the district will work with the company to set a date for groundbreaking. The target date for substantial completion of the project is April 1, 2023. The district has the funds needed to construct the Ag Sciences building.