Erik Wicander
Anonymous
Forum Replies Created
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We have vending machines in the 7-12 school bathrooms but they are available free of charge in the nurses office. The vending machines are barely ever used at all and the only reason we charge for them in the bathrooms is to manage the misuse of the materials. We had brand new stainless steel dispensers installed in our 2015 MSBA project in that building, otherwise I would probably just keep it all with the school nurse.
Erik Wicander
Southwick RSD
In reply to: Facilities Staff Vacation, Sick, Persone;
My staff get 18 sick days and 2 personal days up to 15 years of service then 3 after that. 10 years or less get 3 weeks vacation, 10-15 get 4 weeks and 15 years+ get 5 weeks. we have 2 black out periods being the the week before and after school lets out and the week before students return. All of my full time staff not on introductory probation are credited with their full balance of PTO on July 1. The others accrue time per month. Staff are allowed to carry only 5 days of vacation time from year to year, but can accrue up to 220 sick days( 30% of my staff are at the cap!) personal days also expire on 6/30.
Part time staff have a whole different set of benefits.
This is all negotiated by the teachers union.
Erik Wicander
Southwick Tolland Granville RSD
In reply to: Carbon Monoxide Detectors
In reply to: Elusive Musty Odor
I had the same problem in a library, tracked it back to the ERV that supplied fresh air to the area. When the heat wheel got damp/wet it would emit a musty odor into the space, and the library was the first place served/ largest place served by the air handler. I still haven’t completely eliminated the smell but I have figured out where its coming from.
Erik Wicander
Southwick RSD
In reply to: RECYCLING/GREENING PROGRAMS WITHIN MS/HS
Hi,
I have a similar program going here. Started at our 3-6 school where it is the most developed. Students there go through a line supervised by a custodian. liquids go into a 5 gallon bucket ( which is emptied and cleaned each lunch by the custodian) food scraps into one bin, recycling into a second and finally trash in a third. The other two schools are doing the liquid and sorting just not the food scraps yet.
You will need to monitor it, and have some one keeping up with cleaning the cans/buckets. For us, the only one to do it is a custodian. With that in place I have had no sanitation issues. We also have a heavily involved high school ecology club that has spearheaded this initiative. They present to the younger students and campaign for buy in around the campus. I have had success by implementing the program slowly. Its allowed students to matriculate with good habits. Try adding one piece of the program every 6 months or so, by starting with the younger kids its been simple to expand to the older grades, if you wait until some of them have moved on. I also have the fortune of a local farmer who utilizes the food scraps, so they are picked up daily at no cost.
The first school we moved to 100% eliminated a 6 yard dumpster, so there is cost savings to be realized here. e-mail me if you have questions.Good luck
Erik Wicander
Southwick RSD
In reply to: New Schools: Preferred Equipment Manufacturers?
After our MSBA project I have a few things I can steer you away from.
Out LG VRF units have been an absolute nightmare. All of the problems have been design/manufacturer issues as well, nothing to do with install.
Happy to provide details if you would like.
We have also had tons of issues with Phillips lighting controls. Specifically power packs and motion sensors. Its so bad that I keep a case of new replacements ( different manufacturer) on hand or I will have offices/classrooms in the dark.
Lastly I would caution you against solar powered automatic flush valves and hand sinks. I am spending an inordinate amount of money repairing these things vs. their manual counterparts. The parts are expensive and difficult to get, and they are very finicky so my staff spend way too much time on diagnosis and repair. I would estimate 4 times the parts cost and at least double the labor time on each of these vs. the manual type.
Erik Wicander
Southwick RSD
In reply to: Roof Leaks Due to snow and Ice
We had a few at our HS. Some were due to improperly pitched exhaust fan covers, the type with the circular bowl on top need to be pitched towards the drain hole and apparently they can settle with snow and ice weight on them. A few new mounting holes and a bit of silicone put those right. We also had some leaks sneaking around drains clogged with slush and ice. A ton of water on top of a frozen mess will do that. Glad were not alone.
Erik Wicander
Southwick RSD
In reply to: Phone Responsibility
In Southwick when we switched over to VOIP the IT department took over the phones entirely. There can be so many network related issues with these phone systems that I can’t imagine being responsible for them as 90% of the time IT would need to be involved in any issues. When it was all just copper it made sense that I would manage the phones, now its just redundant to have me be involved.
Good Luck!
Erik
Erik
In reply to: Recycling
Getting buy in from the population can be unpredictable. Our high school ecology club has been instrumental in making our program as successful as it is. They began the process and then lobbied us to commit to it. The club advisor was even taking bottles and cans home to recycle before my predecessor got involved. We currently have pick up programs at all three levels and food waste collection in all of our cafeterias that is picked up by a local pig farmer. As stated above you’ll need all the various receptacles and you’ll need to keep an eye on collection frequency. We have so much participation that we are collecting it daily here. If you can get support of a student organization it will be a major help as getting the message out about what can be recycled and what can’t is the biggest challenge for us. Our club put up posters over every collection point and really got heavily involved, speaking to the younger students and presenting the program all over the district.
One word of caution, I currently have a custodian posted in the cafeteria of the lower grades to aid in the sorting process with the younger students. Recycling here, food waster there trash here etc. I have noticed that this is becoming less necessary as more of our students are aging through the process but its a time suck I wish I wasn’t committed to.
In reply to: Security System Maintenance and Repair
I have had this same experience with Simplex. I moved to Eastern Electronics for my Kantech access control and I have IBS Electronics monitoring and servicing my Maxsys/DSC intrusion alarms. No luck on the camera system yet but I haven’t looked too much into that as I am installing a new NVR this summer that simplex will never touch.
I share your frustrations on this, but these vendors have really made this much better.
Erik
Southwick RSD
In reply to: Anti shatter/ Security window films
In reply to: Padding for Walls
In reply to: Classroom security
Our classrooms are either mortise or lever sets that are set up for the intruder style. Each building has the same lockdown key for the classrooms for the same reason as Don mentioned. Also we keyed our staff bathrooms and faculty rooms to the lockdown key as well which has been a great idea for areas you want all staff access to but want to keep students out without having to issue a ton of keys.
Erik
Southwick RSDIn reply to: Lining athletic fields
In reply to: Fire Doors
In my experience the term “fire door” has more to do with the rating of the door, and a proper installation ( rated hardware, glass, appropriate reveal around the edges) not if its automatic or not. Many of the fire doors I have come across have been simply closed all the time, not automatic.
Is this door being held open with a device that does not release automatically when a fire alarm is triggered?
