Janitor to Custodian to Superhero

My View

How many of you can remember getting your first teaching job and being told early on, “Make sure you make friends with the custodians. You will need them.” Then fast forward to your transition to building administrator and once again recalling those words of advice.

As leaders in K-12 education, we do not need long to realize what an asset our custodians are to our school communities. The women and men who work every day to keep our facilities clean and safe are due much more appreciation and thanks than ever before.

Custodians (or “janitors” as we once called them) have long made sure our buildings were prepared for daily operations (sometimes reporting hours early to shovel snow and clear the ice from walkways), ensured our facilities were stocked with every needed supply for kids to be comfortable, were available throughout the day to clean any mess that occurred and worked into the night to help with event preparation and cleanup and to prepare for the next day.

With the onset of the corona­virus pandemic, our custodians have become our superheroes. In most every school district, custodians were among the first workers reporting back to in-person work, and in some cases, they have been working daily to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They have learned new protocols for disinfecting high-touch surfaces and how to use new sanitizing products and purification equipment, to manage more aggressive cleaning schedules and to be the frontline ears and eyes to address concerns raised by those entering schools and district offices.

A Stalwart Presence

The role of custodians in making our school communities feel safe, comfortable and prepared amidst this public health crisis is larger than ever. Without their daily contributions, usually taking place behind the scenes and out of the view of the general public, our schools would not be able to operate.

Beyond their value to the facility proper, custodians have served a vital purpose of making connections with staff and students, creating the “glue” that holds a school together. They always have been our school communities’ stalwarts, as evidenced from the first messages we heard as young teachers.

Now more than ever though, they are our unsung heroes who make sure our children and staff remain safe and protected as the pandemic swirls around.

Given the tenacity and pervasiveness of this virus, let’s not overlook the added stress and anxiety our custodial and cleaning teams have endured in recent months. Children and their learning is our business, but it certainly could not happen without these truly essential workers. On behalf of all leaders in education, thank you!

PETER BLAKE is superintendent of the Rome City Schools in Rome, N.Y.

@pblake_RomeCSD

He adapted this column from his blog, Leading Through Listening.