Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools Sept/Oct 2015 | Page 19

Maintenance works hard over summer to ready classrooms

Empty classrooms during the
year,” he said. “So, now you’re in
summer is the perfect time to
April and May and you’re spending
perform major renovation projects
for emergencies only, and then
like re-roofing and re-flooring, all
the eight-year-old chiller, that was
necessary to keep the schools a safe
supposed to last 15 or 20 years, has
and pleasant place for students all
gone down hill. Where are we going
year long.
to get that money?”
“Safe and secure can mean a

McManus added that during
lot of things,” said UCPS Facilities
the summer, the department’s
Director Don Hughes. “It means safe
groundskeepers are especially busy
air. We have to keep the humidity
because the school system has 1,100
levels down so mold doesn’t grow. It
acres around the schools to maintain.
means proper lighting, and security
It’s a very big job that includes
that keeps people out or keeps them
trimming back trees and shrubs
in, depending on the situation. It’s all
around the system’s 53 schools.
about a safe and secure environment
“They start out hot and heavy in
for learning.”
March and April, and are full force
Hughes said summer months are
until mid October,” McManus said.
his department’s busiest time. His
This also includes the maintenance
staff not only continues the ongoing
of 33 playground areas. “Mulch
maintenance of UCPS schools, but
is a never-ending process with
they also perform the major, timeplaygrounds,” he said.
consuming projects as well.
Hughes said the main goal of the
“One of the biggest things we
Facilities Department is to maintain
UCPS District Lead Custodian Odell Kilgo performs top scrubbing
have to do during the summer
a safe and secure environment for
at Walter Bickett Elementary School, a procedure that precedes
waxing the floors.
months is strip and re-wax all the
learning.
floors,” Hughes said. “That’s six
--This article was written by UCPS Communications Coordinator Deb
million square feet. We put seven layers of wax down and over the
Coates Bledsoe and provided courtesy of the Communications Office
school year, it wears down.”
of the Union County Public Schools.
Hughes said the stripping and waxing of each school has to be
done in segments. “You can’t do the whole school at one time. You
have to move all the furniture out, then you strip, buff and start
putting on the wax in layers. You have to do a couple of layers and
let them dry.”
To offer some perspective,
one UCPS high school averages
about 200,000 square feet. This
painstaking process usually takes all
summer to complete at each school.
fun
The summer months are also
the perfect time to do major
friends
renovation projects. “We’re doing a
skills
massive reroofing at Western Union
for life
Elementary,” Hughes said. “We’re
Jimmy Martin, left, and
also doing a re-flooring project
James Maples, both UCPS
at Prospect Elementary. When
electricians, work on rewiring
students come back to Prospect,
classrooms at Prospect
almost the entire school will have
Elementary to make room for
new flooring, new paint, new
new technology.
cabinets and better technology.”
Another large summer project is the track replacement at
Parkwood High School. “They haven’t been able to do a track meet
Girl Scouts builds leaders, one girl at a time.
there for several years because the track surface was delaminating
Through hands-on learning, connecting with others and mastering life skills;
and it was not safe,” Hughes said. “There was also drainage issues
girls try new things, love transformational experiences,
around the football field, and we’re fixing that, also.”
and share their adventures along the way.
UCPS Assistance Director of Facilities Danny McManus added that
one of the biggest challenges for the Maintenance Department is
uncertainty as it relates to the budget.
“You can plan and re-plan, but at the end of the day, you know
Join in the fun today at www.hngirlscouts.org
what you can spend each month, all the way through the school
Parent Teacher Magazine • Sept/Oct 2015 • 17