Marblehead custodians receive recognition

MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead’s school custodians make the schools cleaner and safer – and their efforts have gained them some notice.On his report to the School Committee, Director of Facilities David Dunkley noted that his custodians paint and repair equipment, even specialized heating and ventilation repairs, in addition to their usual sweeping and mopping duties. “A lot of (these) guys do show initiative,” Dunkley told the committee.For example, when the Bell School had a power outage at 5 a.m. on a Monday morning in November, Bell custodians responded and got the building back on line. Dunkley admitted that it looks like “this department is never at a full staff for various reasons: illness, injury, retirement, qualifications, salary or someone just quits.”While the end of summer seemed to many custodians to be very stressful, however, Dunkley said, “I was very pleased with the overall cleanliness and the condition of our schools for the opening of this current year.”Part of the improvement is due to a new computerized work request system, which came online in July, 2006. Dunkley also noted an on-going attempt to implement flexible shifts, including a Saturday or Sunday work shift at the Marblehead Village School, where custodial maintenance is credited with keeping the 1930s boilers going.”When the ball is dropped, they pick it up,” said Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac. “I love the custodians in this town.”