School custodians take on added duties during pandemic

One community member decided to show her appreciation for all they do on Friday, March 26

Maggie Smith-Dibble, a custodian at Pipestone Area Schools, uses what she calls the “COVID killer” to sanitize seats in the auditorium before the school board meeting on March 25. Sanitizing is one of the added duties the school district’s custodians have taken on since the pandemic began. K. Kuphal

Much has been reported about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools from the perspective of students, teachers and administrators, but there are others behind the scenes that have felt the impact of the pandemic. They include the custodians who have taken on added responsibility to make sure schools are a safe place for students and staff.
At Pipestone Area Schools (PAS), Director of Maintenance Cal Jans said that’s meant disinfecting of all areas of the schools.
“Some areas that were typically cleaned are now disinfected,” he said. “The products used for this need to be coronavirus approved.”
Pre-COVID, for example, Jans said that his staff would wipe down furniture such as desks if they saw writing or something else that required cleaning. Now they sanitize all furniture, and basically the entire school, on a daily basis.
The custodians use a spray gun that allows them to walk through a room and spray a mist of sanitizer that is electrostatically charged so that it clings to all parts of a piece of the furniture. Maggie Smith-Dibble, who has been a custodian at PAS for about 10 years, calls the spray gun the “COVID killer.” She said the tool saves a significant amount of time compared to disinfecting everything by hand.
Jans said each classroom has been supplied with disinfectant for cleaning throughout the day as needed as well. That helps keep the rooms sanitized, but also leads to additional laundry for the custodians.
Lunch is served in some classrooms to prevent the potential spread of the virus, which Jans said creates additional garbage barrels that need to be removed. The school district has also added table and desk dividers in the commons and some classrooms.
“They get broken and damaged, so repairs or replacement is needed almost daily,” Jans said.
The custodial staff also spent part of the frigid Presidents Day weekend in February loading and transporting furniture and supplies from one school to another to prepare for more students coming back into the schools more often.
Jans said there has been some added stress among his staff, especially in the beginning of the pandemic when all the new procedures and use of new products began. Jans also had to split the crew up early on to limit the number of people in the facilities. Eventually, he was able to have the whole crew on as usual and they adjusted to what has become the new normal over the course of the last year.
“It is extra, of course, but it’s gotten to be such a routine now after all this time,” Smith-Dibble said.
She said the added work has required the custodians to prioritize duties and sometimes some things don’t get done due to time constraints.
“You kind of pick and choose what’s more important,” Smith-Dibble said. “Of course, where do you start because kids touch everything. There are fingers everywhere.”
Jans said most of the custodial staff has been at the school for quite some time and “all in all they’re a good bunch.” Smith-Dibble said the school district is also a good place to work.
Not everyone sees the work the custodians do during a pandemic or even during a regular school year, but one Pipestone resident recently took notice and decided to do something to express her gratitude.
On Friday morning, March 26, Debi Briggs delivered gift baskets for the nine members of the PAS custodial staff to the middle and high school. Briggs said she decided to bring the gifts for the custodial staff because, in her opinion, they don’t get the recognition that other school staff members do and the schools wouldn’t be there without them.
“They do a lot more than anybody could imagine,” Briggs said. “They’re under appreciated.”
Briggs had initially reached out on Facebook in late February to see if others wanted to help show some appreciation to the custodians and had some others interested, but then her grandmother died and she put the idea on hold. When she was ready to proceed, she decided to tackle the task herself.
“I randomly do things like this just to make people smile,” Briggs said.
She said she started doing things to spread some joy in 2010 when she saw a family that was down on their luck and invited them over for Christmas.
“It’s a great feeling to make people smile, not just for them, but for you too,” Briggs said.