District trustees Monday approved work to make San Benito High School a closed campus.
The school is joining schools across the nation in fencing in the campus to keep nighttime troublemakers and renegade gunmen out.
“I just want to take one second to reiterate that we need to close our campus at night,” said Superintendent John Perales. “We have many, many issues that go on at night. Drinking … you can take it from there.”
Trustees unanimously approved installing about 200 feet of eight-foot tall custom fencing along Monterey Street but urged the district to reach out to the public before the structure is built. Fences will go between the O’Donnell gym and the administration building; between the administration building and the library; and between the library and the cafeteria. Work is scheduled to start this week.
“I think having the P.R. upfront is very important,” said Trustee Evelyn Muro. “I think it’s a good idea to talk about it so that people understand, instead of having the fence go up and then having the chatter.”
In order to share the board’s decision, Assistant Principal Jeremy Dirks suggested he could work with staff members to share the PowerPoint about the fences on the school’s website. Staff will also explain the decision at the regularly scheduled school site council meeting Wednesday and the Associated Student Body meeting Thursday.
The superintendent told trustees he had arranged for work on the fence to start this week, provided that the board approved the project at the regular board meeting Monday.
By installing a fence, the district follows in the steps of the Gilroy Unified School District, which has been installing fences at its campuses for a decade, a project that was ramped up after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in December 2012. Perales was the founding principal of that district’s Christopher High School before he accepted his current position in Hollister.
San Benito High School staff officials requested three quotes and received two, which were shared with trustees. The San Jose-based Ace Fence and Gate gave a bid of $41,580 and Hollister-based Orta & Sons asked for $52,436, according to information from the meeting agenda. A contract with Ace Fence and Gate was approved with $19,125 covering the cost of materials and $22,725 paying for labor.
