Facilities manager Doug Carroll details summer deep cleaning, inspections and generator work

Doug Carroll, facilities manager for the Hartford J1 School District, said summer is the busiest time for his crew because deep cleaning and required annual inspections are easiest to complete when students are not in buildings. "We go into each building...we clean furniture and desks and stuff in the room, wipe the walls down, replace light bulbs, clean glass, take everything out of the room," he said, describing the sequence of full-time staff refinishing floors and summer hires returning items to rooms.

Carroll said the district uses the summer to run inspections that are difficult during the school year: fire systems testing, fire extinguisher checks (annual and five-year tests), elevator inspections, and backflow prevention checks. He noted the facilities team is also completing projects from recent referendums and preparing backup generators so buildings will have emergency lighting and backup heat "if we have a power outage." The work, he said, is coordinated off maps so furniture and equipment return to their original locations.

Villalobos thanked Carroll and highlighted parent survey feedback praising clean, ready buildings as visible evidence of the facilities team's work.