“Our BISD custodians are the front line in preparing to have school. They’re an integral part of making sure we can promote a healthy environment for our students to learn.”

Those were the words of Brownwood ISD Director of Student Services Vick Orlando earlier this week as classrooms prepare to open to teachers and students on Aug. 19. In-person learning was halted locally and throughout the state after spring break in mid-March.

The Center for Disease Control has issued updated guidelines since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which are pivotal in regard to the return of in-person schooling.

“Part of the new procedure is to follow the CDC guidelines and that’s what we’re doing,” Orlando said. “We’re training all of our custodians on the current CDC guidelines which include wearing a mask at all times, social distancing, making sure you hit all the high-touch areas daily and several times a day.”

Orlando stated Stan Pachall, supervisor of the BISD custodians, was responsible for discussing all the new procedures now in place with the custodians for the upcoming school year.

Orlando also listed additional guidelines now enforced.

“We’ll utilize PPEs when we use certain disinfectants in different areas and we’ll also disinfect that classrooms at the end of the day when the teachers and students are gone,” Orlando said. “We’ll also replenish our hand sanitizers daily at the end of the day, and throughout the day. We’re making sure tissue is in supply throughout the day and resupplied for the next day as well.”

When it comes computer labs and classrooms of a similar nature, the cleaning methods are a bit different.

“In all of our electronic labs, it’s not good to spray a disinfectant so we use wipes and those will be wiped down between classes, and in between usage,” Orlando said.

With a plethora of daily responsibilities, custodians have also provided each classroom with disinfectants and wipes so teachers can clean the high-touch areas as needed throughout the day. The custodians will then administer a thorough cleaning at the end of each day.

With the start of any school year, the custodians experience a heavy workload. In the current age of COVID-19, there are a few more chores to tackle.

“We’ve undergone all the normal prep, the floors being waxed and buffed, all the carpets shampooed, the normal things we do to start school,” Orlando said. “Plus we’re getting prepared by spraying disinfectant in the high-touch areas on a regular basis.”

The BISD custodians are responsible for all campuses with the exception of the high school, which is contracted out to Draco’s Janitorial Service. However, all those involved at every campus have been working diligently since spring break in hopes in-person classes would resume.

“When we went out at spring break we didn’t know we weren’t coming back,” Orlando said. “So the custodians came back early and deep cleaned all the campuses because we thought we might be able to come back after spring break at some point.

“They’ve been working hard since then, but they’ve taken on other roles like scrubbing all the walls, cleaning all the light fixtures, and they’ve sprayed and wiped all the classrooms from top to bottom just in preparation for the students to return.”