Godley ISD grounds team outlines staffing needs and aging equipment

Manuel Norris, who introduced the grounds briefing, told the board the district's grounds and maintenance crew supports athletic areas and campus upkeep and currently employs four full-time grounds workers, including a recently hired staffer, David Saunders. He said the district plans to add one additional grounds worker for the spring mowing season to address increased mowing and maintenance needs.

Norris described a rotation-based maintenance system that divides campuses into three working sections so high-priority areas receive weekly service while lower-priority areas are inspected monthly. "This creates a workflow," he said while explaining how crews use cloud tools for communication and to recover from weather-related delays.

On equipment, Norris listed primary assets: four John Deere diesel zero-turn mowers (two with 6-foot decks and two with 7-foot decks), an older Toro with a 60-inch deck recently repaired in-house, a Toro reel mower for football practice fields, two tractors (one with front loader and brush attachments), and support tools such as string trimmers and light push mowers. He said some key equipment is aging and that in-house welding and mechanical skills have extended service life but have limits. "Future requesting funding will be necessary," he said, and staff flagged that large repairs or replacements will require formal budget or capital requests.

The presentation also noted program opportunities: although the district does not currently run a small-engine repair program, staff suggested that construction trades or related career-and-technical education offerings could support equipment maintenance in the future if space and resources allow. The presentation closed with staff offering to return with more specific contract documents and budget requests at a future meeting.

The board did not record a vote on any grounds-related procurement or staffing action during the presented transcript.