Facility committee approves $118,000 purchase of robotic floor scrubbers

The facility committee of the Waunakee Community School District voted to approve the purchase of two floor scrubbers and two robot packs, a $118,000 request to be paid from referendum funds, and to reallocate a total of 1.0 full-time-equivalent custodial positions across buildings.

Steve (district facilities lead) said the robotic equipment "is $118,000 and would come from referendum funds," and described plans to deploy robots primarily in hallways and cafeterias at the intermediate school and the new high school south campus. He said the request follows successful tests of similar technology at the high school and at Heritage.

The committee discussed staffing impacts and equipment life. John (operations staff) explained that an earlier calculation error for the intermediate school was corrected—what had been shown as an 80% proposed load is now 102% after using the correct scrubber model. Committee members also noted the district recently deferred a roughly $3,500 repair on an older scrubber and that the robots have an estimated life expectancy of about 10 years, with perpetual ownership of the unit software rather than a subscription.

During questions, members asked whether robots must run only at night and whether staff must be present while machines operate. Presenters said robots can run during the day or night; a staff "champion" should move units to charging locations and perform basic end-of-shift checks, but the devices do not require continuous supervision.

A board member moved to approve the purchase and another member seconded. The motion was approved by voice vote; three committee members responded "I." The committee did not identify the mover or seconder on the record.