Middletown Facilities, Custodians & Maintenance Staying Ahead of the Curve
May 12, 2021
Since the COVID-19 Pandemic outbreak that shook the world in March of 2020, the Middletown Township Facilities Department has been trying to maintain an aggressive and proactive approach in making sure that the sixteen schools in the district are promoting the safest and cleanest environments. The Facilities Department is responsible for overseeing the maintenance workers and custodians throughout the Middletown Township School District.
The school maintenance crew and custodians are essential frontline workers who made it possible for our schools to open in September 2020. Facilities Director Walter Cahill has brought a fresh approach to the day to day operations along with his Day Supervisors Vincent Ferrara and Sean Pruckowski. Night Supervisor Dan Chaney also served in helping with the reopening, but has since left the district and the position will not be filled due to unfortunate budget cuts.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in March, the Facilities Department already had a plan in place that saw the addition of state of the art cleaning supplies that many school districts are still waiting on a year later. This proactive approach has been one of the factors that allowed for students to return to their respective routines.
“Timing was exceptional as many changes were being made to improve our current system before COVID-19 was even introduced or considered a concern in the U.S. Our plan was to give Middletown a solid future in regards to our cleaning systems, so when the pandemic occurred, we were prepared” said Cahill.
One of the key additions to combat COVID-19 was the addition of 19 Protexus Electrostatic Disinfectant Sprayers to make sure that high touch surface areas are treated with botanical hospital-grade chemicals. With the acquisition of these sprayers by the custodial staff, each building is continuously treated throughout the day with a solution that is EPA registered for use against the cause of COVID-19.
The custodial staff at Middletown’s sixteen schools have worked tirelessly to apply this chemical to all touch and hard surfaces, door handles, furniture, floors, etc. The solution takes about 55 seconds to activate and is sprayed in all hallways, bathrooms and classrooms throughout the day. According to Walter Cahill, “The district has continuously deployed additional staff to disinfect and sanitize our schools and school buses.”
According to the MTPS website (www.middletownk12.org), “The district has set protocols for continuous communication with appropriate state, county and local entities, including our school physician, head nurse and the Monmouth County Department of Health. We are following the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and New Jersey Department of Health to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.”
The tireless and selfless efforts of all Middletown Facilities employees has not gone unnoticed by the community. Middletown High School North custodians, including Day Head Garry Czlapinski, Pat Reilly, Rich Nacastro, Tom Boardwick, Joanne Halliday, Chris McCann, Night Head Joanne Pariso, Wilbur Wire, Louis Kaplan, Frank Woods, Chris Rodermann, Rich Cobb, Jose’ Mozon, Rich Silvani, Monica Nava, Bob VanNest and Aqualino Sulit have been instrumental in the students being able to attend school for in-person instruction five days a week.
MHSN teacher Jon Scala shared his thoughts on the job completed to combat the COVID-19 issue in Middletown: “As a resident, employee and parent of children in the Middletown community, the effort and funding that our district has put into ensuring the safety and reopening of our school has been remarkable. The custodians have done a wonderful job in ensuring that the classroom is in the best/safest condition for our students and faculty.”
Besides the cleaning aspect, the Facilities department has played an instrumental role in the community as a whole, participating in food distribution, beautification projects and sanitizing local MTPD, MTFD and ambulance vehicles. Cahill stated “the effort by the custodial staff and maintenance workers has been so important to the reopening of our schools. A tremendous sacrifice has been made by these employees to work through the pandemic, risking their own personal well-being for our students, teachers and administrators.”
When asked about the staffing, Supervisor Vincent Ferrara shared that the district has nearly 24-25 custodians on day shifts and nearly 60-65 on night shifts. This clearly shows that the unsung heroes of our district are doing much of their hard work when no one is around to see it. “Most of the custodial operation happens at night after school hours with no one to even see the work. The custodians and maintenance crew have been remarkable.” If not for the team effort of our 3 supervisors and dedicated staff, it would have been difficult for all of our facilities to open in September,” said Cahill.
This significant workload is critical to the next phase of the district’s re-opening plan on May 10, which will see all students returning to a normal school day. According to Mr. Cahill, “Lunch is the next biggest step in the cleaning process of the school as full days approach.” The resources that have been implemented under the direction of the Facilities Department has allowed the custodial staff to implement a microfiber cleaning system, which just by itself is 99 percent effective in killing germs/bacteria. The Middletown North custodial staff can be seen working tirelessly around the clock to ensure that health and safety are the main priority. “With full days approaching, diligence and consistency is key” said Ferrara.
Along with the cleaning systems in place, Day Supervisor Sean Pruckowski stated that the new air filters that have been implemented with the HVAC systems have helped in the process of letting air to circulate from the outside to the inside. Along with these filters, opened windows and new air filters have been implemented more heavily. “Air filters are changed quarterly, with certain custodians focusing specifically on them. Each classroom has its own unit, with big filters such as ones on the roof that have up to 36 filters” said Pruckowski.
It is clear that the Middletown Township School District has done a fantastic job ensuring that our schools stay open. Keeping up to date with new products and resources has given our community an advantage in staying ahead of the pandemic curve. “Change and improvement is always needed to be able to succeed and stay clean.” said Cahill.
Thank you to all of the efforts that the Middletown Township Facilities Department, Custodians and Maintenance Department to allow the district to flourish during a very difficult time.
Check out what the MTPS Facilities Department, Custodians and Maintenance workers have been doing to keep our schools up and running at a top notch level.
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