Work to Start Soon on Outside of Braintree High, Floor Tiles at South and Liberty

Following approval by the Braintree School Committee of three bids on Thursday night, work will begin this summer renovating portions of , and . 

Bostonian Glass & Aluminum Company, Inc. also received a contract for incidental glass repairs throughout the system.

The committee awarded Bello Painting Company, Inc. of Weymouth a $198,000 bid to clean, water-proof and paint the outside of Braintree High, as well as fix portions of the concrete exterior.

The town budgeted $350,000 for the job and the school department will also pay Habeeb & Associates $30,000 for designer services. Business Manager Peter Kress said that with some of the extra money the department may decide to do some small areas of additional work such as metal railings.

"We're very excited about painting the high school after all these years," Kress said.

The embedded concrete Braintree High School sign will remain, Kress said, while the other large sign will be taken down and replaced with one designed with the input of the incoming headmaster and others. The work is expected to start next week and be complete by the end of summer.

Capital Carpet and Flooring Company of Woburn will perform tile replacement at South Middle and Liberty School this summer, which includes removing asbestos that is part of the tiles, for approximately $148,000. Capital Carpet was awarded the bid by vote of the committee over another company from Norwood that had a slightly lower bid but was not certified as a general contractor on these types of projects.

As the tiles exist now, there is no legal or health obligation for the district to remove them, Kress said, but they are starting to pop out with more frequency. "Eventually, as a community, we're going to have to do all our schools," Kress said.

The department recommended the committee go with the base bid only for this project, rather than add other small areas of tile work because the town can likely get a better price if it awards those separately, Kress said.

The School Committee on Thursday also heard about a proposed increase of 25 cents in lunch prices at Braintree Public Schools, but possible action was tabled until the next meeting. The price increase would be instead of a potential 10 cent increase each year over the next three years as part of a federal food program obligation.

Prices are currently $2 for full-price lunch at the elementary level, $2.25 at the middle schools and high school, and $2.50 for the salad and pasta bar at BHS. The proposed increase would not affect the $2.50 rate.