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Carroll County Schools report rising work orders, pilot new work-order integration and completed construction projects
Summary
Maintenance reported a roughly 10% increase in work orders, a new school facility lead model to improve communications, several completed renovations and a pilot of a SchoolDock work-order integration for August rollout.
Glenn Harding, organizational excellence presenter for Carroll County Schools, and Mike Beers, maintenance and facilities lead, updated the board on June 16 on construction, maintenance and custodial services across the district.
The update matters because the district manages roughly 2.8 million square feet of building space and relies on maintenance operations to keep schools open and safe. Beers said the system logged about a 10% increase in total work orders over the prior year—"about nearly 700 or 800" additional requests—and credited the increase in part to a new on-site point-person program that he called school facility leads.
Beers described the facility-leads approach as designating a single on-site point of contact at each school to be the primary communicator with the maintenance department. He said the district now holds quarterly Zoom meetings with each cluster's facility leads and that the change has strengthened communication and relationships. Beers also said the district covers about "2.7, 2,800,000 square feet" and currently has about 20–26 maintenance staff on the ground, roughly 100,000 square feet per technician.
Harding reviewed recently completed projects, including two program classrooms at North College and Career Academy (North CCA), a cafeteria expansion and three-classroom addition and science-wing renovation at Villa Rica High School, a major media-center renovation at Bay Springs, a cafeteria expansion and four-classroom addition at Central High School, and renovations at other sites. He reported that Mount Zion High School and Central Middle School both passed 80% fire-marshall inspections and are on track for opening day.
On custodial services, board discussion noted that the district outsources custodial work and continues to review cost trade-offs. A board member said the district's annual analysis shows outsourced custodial services remain less costly than bringing custodians in-house at present. Beers said the custodial contractor's monthly ratings were about 4 out of 5 and principals report satisfaction with performance.
Beers told the board the maintenance department is exploring a pilot of a new work-order system that integrates with SchoolDock (the district safety/workflow system schools use) and aims to pilot it this summer with trades and maintenance workers, with a broader rollout starting on day one of the school year in August.
Board members asked about preventive maintenance scheduling (Beers said HVAC filters are changed quarterly and other preventive tasks vary by trade and staffing), the balance between contracted services and in-house staff, and whether the district should consider adding trades staff permanently to reduce contractors. Beers said staffing needs peak during HVAC startup and heating seasons and that the department will present staffing proposals in the future.
No formal board action was taken on staffing or contracting during the update; several items will be returned for future consideration.
