Progress 2021: District custodians play key role in effort to keep local schools open during a pandemic

As Mat-Su Borough School District schools prepared to welcome over 10,000 students back to school buildings for in-person instruction in the fall of 2020, the way teachers educated students came with a myriad of mitigation strategies. Each MSBSD high school is disinfected and sanitized daily through the work of one day custodian and two overnight custodial staff members. At middle schools and elementary schools, one custodian covers a day shift and another covers a night shift, cleaning the surfaces where students learn. Of the 17,900 students enrolled in MSBSD, 61 percent attended classes in person in October of 2020 and 70 percent attended classes in person as of January.

“We have the spray bottles and cloths in the classroom we put in holders for the spray bottles, especially in elementary school they’re high enough so the kids aren’t getting a hold of them but so that the teachers have that access if they feel they need to spray down an area for them to feel safe and comfortable to do what they need to do,” said MSBSD Custodial Supervisor Janean Pralle.

Purchase of electrostatic machines for cleaning sprayers worn as backpacks by custodial staff has increased the speed at which classroom surfaces can be cleaned. Among the changes to school protocols that increase the need for surface disinfectants are a move disallowing students from using lockers and congregating in groups. Students also eat lunch in classrooms as opposed to cafeterias. MSBSD Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani has praised the work of school staff in mitigation of the virus. Over the first 103 school days, 746 positive cases were associated with the school district. Trani noted that the 329 cases reported since the short term school closure for the Thanksgiving holiday resulted in only 7.8 percent of cases transmitted within school, whereas 42 percent of cases occurred in maskless environments.