Like most everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way school buildings are cleaned and sanitized, impacting not only custodians at school districts around the county but also school district budgets.
“It is like a whole new world,” Fox C-6 custodial manager Dave Sansoucie said of the difficult task custodians have faced since the pandemic took hold of the nation in mid-March. “Everything has to be cleaned, and then we go back and spray down everything. It’s door handles, light switches, desks, bathroom stalls – everything has to be sprayed and disinfected.”
Custodial staff members also are using new equipment to get the job done, mainly electrostatic machines that spray a sanitizing mist to disinfect rooms and hallways.
“We would routinely sanitize and disinfect frequently touched services (before the pandemic), but now we do that more often, especially those on the day shift (when school is in session),” Festus R-6 School District maintenance director Tom Stegemann said.
“The evening shift crew also is making sure classroom COVID supplies are restocked every night. We provide things like disinfectant spray, wipes and paper towels for each classroom, and the evening crew makes sure the teachers, who do a lot of cleaning in their classrooms throughout the day, have what they need at the start of the day.”
While the pandemic has led to some absences among custodial staff, they have stepped up and found ways to meet the challenge of providing a safe environment for students and school staff members to learn and teach in, school officials have reported
“They know how important it is for our students and staff to be in safe schools,” Northwest R-1 School District Superintendent Desi Kirchhofer said. “They wanted to make school work this year. They have done an excellent job of taking care of us. We are grateful for the hard work and pride our custodians put into each day.”
Officials from De Soto, Festus, Fox and Northwest school districts, St. Pius X High School and Jefferson College have provided insight to how some their custodial needs have been met during the pandemic.
De Soto
De Soto School District Superintendent Josh Isaacson said his district has been fortunate to have enough custodial staff members to keep up with the demands of sanitizing schools during the pandemic.
“Not only have we covered our regular day and night shifts, but we have also been able to add a part-time day custodian at each building to assist with extra sanitation needed as a result of COVID-19,” Isaacson said.
In addition to its normal custodial supplies, the De Soto School District has added microfiber rags and mop heads, electrostatic sprayers, bus sprayers, classroom disinfectant sprayers and hand sanitizer dispensers in every classroom and bus, as well as personal protection equipment to combat the virus, Isaacson said.
He also said the district replaced 12 water fountains with bottle fillers to reduce the spread of the virus and put up signs throughout buildings to remind everyone of safety protocols. The district has changed the food service process and adjusted lunch shifts, with students eating in classrooms. In addition, Plexiglas barriers have been added between student desks in every classroom.
Isaacson said teachers have provided cleaning and sanitizing support in their classrooms.
“Our folks have really stepped up to the challenge to ensure areas and rooms are disinfected and safe for all our students at all times during the day,” he said.
Festus
The Festus School District already had 30 full-time custodians, five part-time custodians and four maintenance employees, and for this school year, it hired another five part-time staff members to spray down buildings every night with the district’s new electrostatic machines, district officials said.
Debbie Oberkirsh, a custodian at Festus Middle School, said her day is a busy one now that the number of times she must clean and sanitize areas around the school during her 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift has increased.
“It is more running all over the building,” Oberkirsh said. “It makes the day go quickly.”
Stegemann and Oberkirsh said teachers and students are pitching in to keep buildings clean. Teachers and students sanitize their desks throughout the school day and pitch in with wiping down frequently touched areas in classrooms.
“I think everything has gone well,” Oberkirsh said. “Everyone works together.”
On Jan. 14, Stegemann said custodial expenses through the start of this school year were $85,792.23 compared to last school year’s expenses of $58,717.80. He also said the maintenance department has spent about $178,000 on COVID-19-related supplies and equipment, and the district has spent about $270,000 on supplies and equipment related to stemming the spread of the virus.
He said most of the money spent on those supplies likely will be covered by funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The Festus district purchased 14 electrostatic spray machines, six air purifiers, 30 water-bottle filling stations, about 70 paper-cup dispensers and polycarbonate screens to help stem the spread of the virus, school officials said.
Stegemann said so far this school year, the custodial and maintenance staffs have had a total of 93 absences related to COVID-19, and the district has been able to cover for the absent employees with its part-time staff members.
However, Festus is looking to hire a food truck driver/maintenance worker.
“Just prior to the shutdown (in mid-March), I had my food service driver quit,” Stegemann said. “That is an essential function in the district, and somebody who has been sorely missed.”
Fox
Sansoucie, who often fills in at Fox School District buildings if a custodian is absent, said he and other custodians are doing at least twice the work previously required of them.
The district has 11 elementary schools, four middle schools, two high schools, an early education center and an alternative school.
“We are just being more diligent,” Sansoucie said. “Anywhere you think a kid could possibly touch, like lower sections of walls that they put their hands on, you clean. We can tell the difference it is making because how many flu cases we have had this year is down. It is working with COVID and the flu.”
Fox did experience a recent custodial staffing shortage and hired a crew from an outside firm to clean Seckman High School from Jan. 11 through Jan. 15
Eight custodial staff members on the school’s evening shift had to be quarantined Jan. 8, and because of a lack of substitutes available, Fox hired custodial workers from ABBCO to clean the school those five days.
ABBCO, a St. Louis janitorial service, charged the Fox district $6,000 to provide eight employees to clean Seckman High during that period. The district also entered into an agreement with ABBCO that if a similar situation arises again, the business will provide fill-in staff for $30 per hour.
Board of Education members voted unanimously Jan. 12 to approve the $,6000 expenditure and the staffing agreement.
“It is always challenging to keep our custodians fully staffed,” said Kelly Bracht, Fox’s assistant superintendent for human resources. “We did (previously) contract with Kelly Services to provide custodians for us when possible to help us stay fully staffed, but that has not been successful. That is not due to any issues with Kelly Services; it's just a result of the current job climate for school custodians.”
Bracht said the Fox district employs 70 full-time custodians and 10 substitute custodians.
As of Jan. 15, the district had spent $180,255.81 on custodial supplies, compared to the $138,626.50 the district spent the entire last school year, district officials reported.
Fox’s director of maintenance, Scott Barbagallo, said the district purchased backpack electrostatic spray machines to speed up the sanitation process in buildings, single and bi-fold paper towels for staff and students to use to clean their work areas and classrooms, and additional cleaning towels for custodians.
“Those items have been submitted for reimbursement (through the CARES Act),” said Barbagallo, who also said the district already has received $53,777.74 in CARES Act funds to cover the cost of some supplies.
Superintendent Nisha Patel said Fox’s custodians have worked tirelessly to keep buildings safe and clean.
“Every time I am in a school building, I see our custodians doing their due diligence disinfecting high-contact surface areas, such as doorknobs, faucets and shared tables,” she said. “They take pride in the work they do, and we are proud of all of the efforts during this pandemic.”
Northwest
Northwest’s staff has been able to handle an increased workload with the 44 full-time and seven part-time custodians the district already employed, officials said.
“There have been more days off here and there, and we have had to get creative in coverage a few more times than we normally have to,” said Kirchhofer, whose district is currently trying to fill three full-time custodial positions.
Kirchhofer and Geoff Macy, Northewest’s chief operating officer, said the district has increased the amount of cleaning supplies it typically purchases, and the district now has electrostatic sprayers to sanitize its buildings. The district also has installed 300 sanitizing stations throughout its 10 school buildings.
Northwest expects to spend $2,082,385 on custodian salaries and benefits this school year, as compared to last year’s $1,775,033. In addition, the district has spent $160,000 more on cleaning supplies because of the pandemic this school year, officials said.
The district has been reimbursed for the extra supplies through the CARES Act fund, according to officials.
“Our director of facilities and coordinator of custodial services have provided tremendous leadership to ensure all areas are covered daily,” Macy said. “It has been great to see how well they have worked as a department to make sure the environment is safe every day.”
St. Pius X
At St. Pius X Catholic High School in Crystal City, Bob Kausler, director of maintenance, and Rob Kausler, custodian, have stepped up to keep the building clean and safe for the school’s 279 students and 26 teachers, officials said.
“They are both very overworked,” St. Pius President Jim Lehn said. “Every single day, they sanitize and clean everything.”
Principal Karen DeCosty and Lehn said the school purchased two electrostatic spray machines, eight water-bottle filling stations, wall-mounted sanitizing stations for each classroom, kick plates for bathroom doors to limit door-handle contact, sensor-operated faucets for bathrooms and other equipment to help prevent the spread of the virus.
St. Pius custodians also get help from a crew of about 10 students who take part in a work-study program, and teachers lend a helping hand.
“Students sanitize door handles and handrails along with other cleaning tasks,” DeCosty said. “The teachers have stepped up in their classrooms as well.”
Lehn said the school has not experienced a custodial staff shortage or lack of supplies to keep the school clean.
Jefferson College
Jefferson College has not experienced problems with keeping its custodial crew staffed because of the pandemic, said Roger Barrentine, the college’s director of public relations and marketing.
“We have had very low numbers of custodians who have been quarantined or tested positive for COVID,” he said.
Barrentine said the college has not bought special custodial supplies beyond personal protection equipment for custodians, which all college employees have received.
“We have cleaning supplies and hospital-grade disinfectants,” he said.
