River Falls school maintenance staff outline safety, sustainability and heavy after-hours use of facilities

Dave (staff member) described how the district handles hazardous materials, routine safety audits and training and named outside specialists the district uses for industrial-hygiene services.

The presentation noted regular use of Material Safety Data Sheets and periodic safety audits conducted by Field Environmental and Meridian to ensure “safe handling and storing of chemicals,” and to test staff competency with those materials. District staff said those audits usually find positive results but also opportunities to learn and improve.

Why it matters: district buildings host frequent large events and daily community activities; safe handling of chemicals, turf testing and grounds maintenance are integral to student safety and to keeping facilities open to the public.

District staffing and operations Dave said the district has one full-time district lead for grounds who coordinates seasonal temporary workers for snow removal and summer work, and that maintenance and custodial staff support grounds tasks. He described partnerships with J&S Lawn Care for turf maintenance and with GMACS for turf cushion testing; staff said the testing checks whether turf cushioning has degraded over time and requires attention.

The presentation highlighted energy and sustainability work with River Falls Utilities and WPPI, and use of Focus on Energy and local rebates to identify efficiency projects tied to the district referendum projects.

Community access and workload Dave said the district’s buildings are in near-constant use for cocurricular, community education and youth programming, calling the rate of use “a point of pride.” He said district records for a recent week showed about 113 activities spanning early-morning lap swim and walking access through late-evening events, and that some holiday tournaments drew about 1,900 attendees on each of two days.

Staffing challenges Staff cited difficulty maintaining staffing levels that allow employees to take earned paid time off, noting recruitment lead times often exceed short notice windows. When substitutes are scarce, the district sometimes pulls maintenance technicians into daily cleaning work, which delays longer-term maintenance orders. Several leaders recently retired, creating transition gaps in building leadership that staff said will take time to fill.

Professional development and tracking Lynette (staff member) said the district uses a work-order system and is beginning to track response time and rate from that data. She said staff attend regional custodial conferences and that participation has varied by year depending on location and timing.

Ending Board members thanked buildings and grounds staff for their work and asked staff to return with follow-up items as needed. No formal board action was taken during the presentation.