Add as a preferred source on Google

Team Cleaning Creates Consistency

  • 09/01/16

Forty-two schools comprise Aiken County Public School District in South Carolina. Up until recently, every school approached cleaning tasks differently. Inconsistency in process, products, and training led to inconsistent cleanliness from building to building. So the county set out to make a change.

In pursuit of creating the best environment for students to learn and achieve, Aiken County Public Schools chose to implement a standardized cleaning system based on team cleaning with efficient ProTeam backpack vacuums. Blaine Riley, education program developer for Augusta Janitorial, has shepherded the transition. He helped blend the styles of team cleaning and zone cleaning to maximize efficiency for cleaners during the day.

In a K-12 setting, a cleaner must be present during the school day to clean as needed. In Aiken County’s hybrid system, those cleaners also tackle cleaning work by area type to stay as productive as possible. For example, an Aiken County day cleaner may clean offices or common areas in a zone concept. They would perform all cleaning tasks within that building, including vacuuming with an upright vacuum. The ProTeam ProForce 1500XP fits on the cart with all the other supplies and works best for Aiken’s zone cleaning approach.

At night, the staff bands together as teams of specialists. There are four types of specialists on a team, the vacuum specialist, the restroom specialist, the light duty specialist, and the utility specialist. The vacuum specialist uses a lightweight backpack vacuum, the Super Coach Pro 6, that cleans three times faster than an upright and vacuums for about two hours continuously, improving vacuuming efficiency.

“We’re going to see a reduction in labor costs. But our goal is not to reduce staff. We just want a standardized and efficient approach to cleaning,” says Kip Gunter, the district’s director of maintenance and custodial. “This consistency will lead to cleaner and healthier environments for students, enabling them to both learn and achieve more.”

www.proteamnextgen.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • Massachusetts K–12 District Selects Architect for New Junior High

    Swansea Public Schools in Swansea, Mass., recently announced that it has selected Finegold Alexander Architects to design a new junior high school for the district, according to a news release. The firm will create the Feasibility Study and Schematic Design for Joseph Case Junior High School after a lengthy selection process by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).

  • sapling sprouting from a cracked stone

    Lessons in Resilience: Disaster Recovery in Our Schools

    Facility managers play a pivotal role in how well a school weathers and recovers from a crisis. Whether it's a hurricane, a flood, a tornado, or a man-made event, preparation determines resilience.

  • UNL Kiewit Hall

    Designing for Engineering Excellence: Integrating Sustainability and Wellness at UNLs Kiewit Hall

    Kiewit Hall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln exemplifies how academic institutions can integrate sustainability and wellness into modern learning environments. With an integrated and collaborative team approach, Kiewit Hall addresses enhanced learning and creativity, physical health, and mental wellness, and fosters a sense of community through innovative design, operations, and policy solutions.

  • University of Kentucky Receives $150M Gift Toward New Arts District

    The University of Kentucky’s Board of Trustees recently received a $150-million gift from The Bill Gatton Foundation, according to a university news release, to build a new arts district on the campus in Lexington, Ky. The new district will feature a new College of Fine Arts building and a multi-hundred-seat theater, among other amenities.

Digital Edition