CUSTODIANS’ ASSURANCE: SCHOOLS WILL BE CLEAN

continually fill up spray bottles.

Custodians will also run ultraviolet-light air purifiers in classrooms for two hours each night.

They watched instructional videos issued by CCSD with cleaning protocols, such as how long to let disinfectant sit before wiping it down and how to put a mask on without contaminating it with germs.

Samantha Fitch, part of a three-person cleaning crew at Stanford, said she was excited about students coming back.

“I just want to make sure that when they come in, students and staff, that they know that it’s clean,” Fitch said.

The cleaning crew has placed social-distancing markers on floors and set up about 60 hand sanitizing stations. Returning students will undergo temperature checks, be required to wear face coverings and have limited movement throughout the building.

The custodians, whom CCSD has provided with face shields, masks and gloves, have also received extra training to learn how to combat the coronavirus and stay safe.

“I make sure that they have all the protection they need,” Longoria-Buffington said.

School employees have also been prioritized to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and Longoria-Buffington and Proehl have already had their first doses. Fitch didn’t say if she has been inoculated.

None of the custodians has been infected or exposed to the coronavirus as far as they know. ”We’ve all been healthy and good,” Longoria-Buffington said.

While custodians often work unnoticed, once everyone gets back to school, they will recognize “that we play a big factor in the health of the school,” Longoria-Buffington said.

“I like to show off my school and the things that we do,” he said. “Lots of people don’t know. They don’t realize how much we actually do.”