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Support staff tackle new tasks to combat swine flu
Posted: 11/20/2009 10:58:44 AM
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Marjorie Eith, a custodian for the Belleville School District, wipes down a desk. With swine flu still spreading, school maintenance staff have added new routines to their workload to combat the virus. |
In addition to the fingerprints, the dust, the grime and the dirt they normally battle on a daily basis school maintenance workers have a new opponent this fall: swine flu. The H1N1 virus has caused disruptions in schools across the country, putting an extra burden on custodial staff to disinfect, cleanse and protect every surface in a school to prevent further spread of the bug.
| Nominate an ESP colleague for the NEA C.L.E.A.N. Award |
| The national C.L.E.A.N. Award recognizes the contributions that custodians make to public health in their schools, communities, and their profession. The award will be presented to a school custodian that demonstrates outstanding leadership in the field of school cleanliness, and it reflects the contributions that education support professionals make to public health. The award program is a joint initiative of the National Education Association, the NEA Health Information Network and the Soap and Detergent Association. The 2010 National C.L.E.A.N. (Custodial Leaders for Environmental Advocacy Nationwide) Awards application package is now available at www.neahin.org/cleanaward/. The deadline for application/nominations is December 7. |
“Everything the kids touch has to be washed down, and then we use additional products on it,” Marjorie Eith, a custodian for the Belleville School District, said. “It’s a little bit of extra work.”
At Belleville, about 20 miles southwest of Madison, the district’s director of facilities, John Beil, decided to do something about the increasing number of absences due to illness. But with budget constraints being what they are, he had to get creative.
“I don’t have a lot of extra staff to pull in another direction,” Beil said.
Beil organized a district-wide cleanup around teacher conference days in October when classes weren’t in session. Existing staff were directed to the new task of disinfecting every surface.
Beil’s plan did get some extra reinforcements, however, in the form of a product called BioShield that Beil said has been used in districts across the state battling H1N1. The product covers a surface with a biostatic coating, hopefully keeping the swine flu virus at bay.
“The way I look at it is if it does half of what it says it does, it’s better than doing nothing,” Beil said.
Beil said he’s seen results; the percentage of absences at the district’s schools has decreased since the disinfecting effort began. The cleanup campaign also went hand-in-hand with a drive to tell staff and students to wash up whenever they had the chance. Battling swine flu has been as much about keeping aware as it has been keeping desks and doorknobs clean, Beil said.
“You got to change habits, and habits are hard to change,” Beil added.
Beil said another district-wide disinfecting is planned for the holiday break around the new year. In the meantime, staff such as Eith (who works a 3 to 11:30 p.m. shift) supplement the BioShield with daily cleanings of desks and other surfaces.
And it’s not just fighting germs that’s adding to the daily workload. With more cases of flu and with the recommended precaution of washing one’s hands often, supplies at schools such as tissues, soap and paper towels are having to be replaced more often than in years past.
“It keeps us pretty busy,” Eith said with a laugh.