Summer offers no break for these school workers

Polk Elementary School's custodial crew in Cedar Rapids spent part of the summer vacation on scaffolding, cleaning the smoke detectors mounted on the gymnasium ceiling.

“If they get dusty, they'll go off,” Building Engineer Terry Slickty said.

It isn't something people will notice when the 2010-11 school year begins, but it's one of the many cleaning tasks school custodians tackle during summer break.

“It's restoration cleaning, it's project cleaning - it's the stuff we're not able to get to during the school year,” said Tom Day, the Cedar Rapids school district's buildings and grounds/custodial and grounds manager.

“These guys are really busy in the summertime,” Dave McKenzie, assistant director of the Iowa City school district's physical plant, said.

They scrub furniture, wax floors and clean carpets. Each room in a school building is scoured from top to bottom.

Even the ceiling lights are dusted.

“I don't think people realize when they walk into a school that every inch of the building has been washed, by hand,” said Tina Gull, Polk's food service manager. Gull works for the custodial department during the summer break.

“After 18 years, people still ask me, ‘Do you get the summer off?'” Slickty said with a laugh. “That's where we get our deep-cleaning done.”

George Volk, head custodian at Iowa City High School, said, “We start working on the lockers the day school lets out.” Crews clean each locker, but also change the combinations and make sure each lock works for nearly 2,000 lockers.

Volk pays special attention to lockers designated for the incoming freshmen class. “They have enough to worry about on their first day without having their locker open,” he said.

City High's 11-person must work around student workouts, teacher in-services and new window installation.

Polk is a year-round school and classes resume Thursday, leaving Slickty and his crew with less time to complete everything on their summer ‘to do' list. Slickty and his team - Gull and first custodian Nathan Jackson - started in the kitchen first, where it can be hot.

Budget challenges exist. The Cedar Rapids district decreased its 2010-11 maintenance staff by 10 full-time equivalent positions. That has resulted in some scrambling as crews find themselves short-handed.

Day hired about 30 custodians to help with summer cleaning, but Jeff Foster, president of the SEIU Local 199 chapter representing Cedar Rapids' custodial employees, said the cuts could harm staff and student health when school resumes.

“There's a square footage that will have to be maintained with fewer staff,” Foster said. “Some rooms might not be cleaned every day, but every second day or every third day. We're worried our kids won't be in clean facilities.”

Substitute custodians were hired to work in several Iowa City schools this summer. The district decreased its 2010-11 custodial staff through attrition. “We have not had any layoffs and there are no plans for layoffs,” McKenzie said.

The Linn-Mar school district also lost custodians through attrition. District spokeswoman Laura Mallicoat said custodians are doing their own painting this year because the district didn't hire a summer painting crew.

The work goes on, no matter how high temperatures rise or how quickly the work fades once school is back in session. “It's unbelievable what they do,” said Marilee McConnell, principal at Wilkins Elementary School in Marion. “It's just a never-ending job. They work non-stop all summer.”