Our Head Custodian

Three years ago, South Kingstown High School was visited by a group of educators as part of a SALT (School Accountability for Learning and Teaching) visit. While the majority of the commendations and recommendations focused on what happens in the classroom, the SALT team couldn’t help noticing the condition of the building. In their recommendations, they state, “This school building no longer promotes or reflects a positive school culture. The school is noticeably dirty and poorly maintained—halls, cafeteria, classrooms, gymnasium, quads, and restrooms. Students report that the restrooms “are disgusting” and that they refuse to use them. Graffiti is a widespread and demoralizing problem for students and adults alike. Broken and/or insufficient furniture, shades, windows, and doors are commonplace.” It was the only non-teaching and learning comment to appear in the report. If the SALT team was to return, they would not come to such a conclusion. The district has provided some additional resources and re-structured how custodians are supervised. There has been some turnover with our custodians but the most important factor in providing a cleaner school has been the work of our head custodian, Carol Leahy. Carol has served as our head custodian for over a year now. She has established higher expectations regarding cleanliness and professionalism for all of the custodians. She is responsive to any emergencies we have and is pro-active around other facilities issues. The cafeteria, which was a dump five years ago, is significantly cleaner. Carol has advocated for and facilitated long-term projects such as re-painting all of the bathrooms; four have been re-painted in the past year. She has lobbied for and received better equipment for the school. She has developed an esprit de corps amongst her staff and worked well with me and her district supervisors. She goes about her job professionally and cheerfully. On a weekly basis, I would hear complaints about the condition of the cafeteria, gym and bathrooms; I rarely hear those concerns any more. Sometimes the importance of a position can’t be measured until someone steps in and makes a difference. That is the case with Carol Leahy.