Cleaning mistake is expensive

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Cleaning mistake is expensive

Olympia,WA

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Picture this. Custodians at Capital High School standing on

chairs " misting " the classroom walls with large amounts of water,

which pools on the floor. The water seeps into the carpet, prompting

mold to spread up the walls.

It's a foolish mistake that is going to cost taxpayers $500,000 to

fix.

Questions:

Why would anyone think that spraying school walls with large amounts

of water is a good idea?

Where were the custodial supervisors to challenge that cleaning

practice?

And where were the school district administrators to ensure

consistent cleaning procedures from one school to the next?

The mold at Capital High School is a black mark for the school

district's facilities administration. Taxpayers have every right to

be hopping mad.

If there's any good news in this appalling episode, it's that no

other schools in the district appear to have the same mold problem.

Additionally, school district administrators are committed to a

corrective plan that should ensure that this senseless situation

doesn't happen again.

Schools throughout the Olympia district are given a " deep clean "

every summer, according to Rex, district spokesman. But it has

been left up to individual custodians at individual schools to

determine what deep cleaning entails.

While custodians at Capital were mopping the walls with excessive

amounts of water, custodians at Olympia High School and other

schools were using dry dusters and a squirt of a liquid cleaner to

remove stubborn stains.

So why were custodians at Capital using a " Doodle bug " -- a floor-

cleaning tool that was wrongly adapted for use on classroom and

hallway walls?

" We're not sure, " Rex said. " The best guess we can muster is that in

their attempts to get a deep cleaning, they thought it was the best

way to get through 40 to 45 classrooms quicker. They were trying to

get them really clean. "

What about reports of cleaning crews spraying walls with hoses? It

did happen in some limited places on the Capital High School campus,

but most of the time, the hoses were used to fill up mop buckets

with water.

" They did use far more water than we use even in a deep clean of the

building, " admits Bob Wolpert, director of facilities and operations.

So where were the supervisors, and why didn't they halt the

destructive cleaning practices?

" There could have been better supervision, " Rex admits.

Were the custodians and their supervisors held accountable?

" We have taken action from the supervision side, " said Wolpert. But

beyond that generality, district officials say that's a personnel

matter and they don't comment on personnel actions.

So what lessons were learned?

Rex said the district will:

Provide more supervision for cleaning crews.

Increase training for custodians.

Standardize the techniques so that cleaning practices are the same

at every school.

" This has made us much more aware and much more sensitive to issues

of moisture, " Rex said.

And it only cost taxpayers $500,000.