Written by Joe Hickman, Director of Buildings and Grounds
Valparaiso Community Schools is a large school corporation. Keeping the buildings well-maintained, clean and safe is the function of the maintenance and custodial departments.
The appearance and cleanliness of a school gives visitors a first impression, and it is our goal that impression be positive. The appearance and cleanliness of a building sets the atmosphere for a good educational process.
Our maintenance and custodial staffs take pride in the operation of our schools, and they play a large part in supporting education by providing the best environment conducive to learning.
Valparaiso Community Schools consists of one high school, two middle schools, eight elementary schools, the Porter County Career Center, an administration building and a service center that houses the maintenance and transportation departments. The district is composed of about 132 acres, which includes 1,272,448 square feet of buildings. School buildings are made available to the public and are used at all hours of the day for sports, public events, etc. Our school system is rich in pride with buildings such as Central Elementary School, built in the late 1800s, to the most recent Flint Lake Elementary, built in 1993.
There is a tremendous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to keep our buildings safe, clean, healthy and functioning. The maintenance and custodial staffs are responsible for building exteriors and interiors, food service, athletic facilities, landscaping and lawn care, playground equipment, etc.
The school district is required to meet all state inspections yearly to ensure the integrity and safety of the buildings. They include boilers, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, elevators, backflow preventers, heating apparatuses, smoke detectors, bleachers and kitchen hoods. The maintenance department completes more than 2,600 work orders a year and performs snowplowing when needed.
In the summer, when schools are not in session, the buildings are deep cleaned room by room. The summer is also when preventative maintenance is performed on all mechanical equipment. The custodial and maintenance staffs work together as a team to ensure a healthy, safe environment.
The maintenance and custodial staffs support the education process and take pride and ownership in the schools. When a parent sends a child to school for six to eight hours a day, the maintenance and custodial staffs ensure the learning environment is safe, clean and healthy.
This is how our maintenance and custodial staffs help district students climb the ladder of success.