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| Ron Molina, head custodian at Windham Primary School, cleans door handles at the school on Wednesday morning. Across RSU 14 in Windham and Raymond, custodial staffs are busy cleaning surfaces, classrooms, bathrooms and common school areas used by students and teachers throughout the day to meet CDC requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE |
Strong cleaning policies for RSU 14 facilities are giving the district a head
start in keeping schools clean and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bill Hansen, Director
of Facilities, Property Services and Special Projects, said that for the past
few years, the district has worked hard with custodial supply vendors to
continually update and improve cleaning processes and procedures. This included reviewing chemicals used,
switching to all microfiber cleaning, and installing hand sanitizer in the
classrooms.
As a result, the district was already well prepared to manage the cleaning and sanitizing protocols required to safely reopen.
“When the pandemic
started, the cleaning processes in place were already appropriate,” Hansen
said. “The changes that have been made focus on increasing our ability to serve
the building while students are present. This includes adding additional
custodial staffing during the day, adjusting custodial hours to support the
cleaning between student days, and for the time being restricting school use to
educational purposes only so the evening custodial staff can focus solely on
cleaning and not event set up or public use of the spaces.”
Specific
protocols for cleaning and disinfecting during the pandemic are outlined in the
2020-2021 School Reopening plan, which is available on the home page of the RSU
14 website (www.rsu14.org), said Assistant Superintendent Christine
Frost-Bertinet.
COVID-19 guidelines, custodial and maintenance employees must follow documented standard procedures for routine cleaning and disinfecting.
Other measures have
also been taken to promote good health in the schools. As recommended by the CDC, Hansen said, RSU 14
converted most of the sink faucets in the district to hands free operation,
allowing students and staff to wash without needing to touch the fixtures.
The district has also
created outdoor classroom spaces for students, allowing for more social
distancing, mask breaks, and fresh air.
“These spaces have been
a hit with the students and have been used regularly,” Hansen said. Large outdoor picnic tables were purchased
for students to work at in these outdoor spaces, Hansen said.
“Going forward the RSU
has plans to create several outside teaching space structures with roofs to
allow expanded use of the outdoor environment for teaching and learning,” he
said.
The district has also
been focused on improving building air filtration and increasing the amount of
fresh air into the spaces as recommended by the American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) as a response to COVID,
Hansen said.
“This increased air
flow and filtration provides an improved indoor environment and the additional
outside air also results in more air changes per hour resulting in more fresh
outside air in the educational spaces,” he said.
Inspections and
preventative maintenance procedures have also been completed on the air
handling and exhaust air systems to be sure they are operating efficiently and
as designed.
Frost-Bertinet said
that the transition back to school for staff and students has gone very well
overall.
“Students and their
families have been following the expected health and safety protocols, they
have
transitioned smoothly to the new and unusual schedule and have
demonstrated remarkable resilience in light of everything they are facing. We
are incredibly proud of our students and grateful to our families for their
continued support and flexibility,” she said.
The pandemic presents
challenges for all involved: staff, students and families.
“Our staff has done an
exemplary job of stepping up to the challenges we are all facing. They have
kept students and families at the forefront of their thinking and worked
incredibly hard to adjust to the myriad of changes in response to COVID-19,” Frost-Bertinet
said.
Hansen agreed.
“Staying the course
with mask use, hand washing, social distancing and staying home when not
feeling well will be most important,” said Hansen. “The departure from our
normal to this new state is a continued stressor for all and as a district we
will continue to work to find ways to continue to provide the supports and
assistance needed. This challenge is not likely to go away anytime soon and
working together we can continue to be successful and deliver success for all.”
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