Every day, when nearly 6000 students, over 200 teachers, and countless administrators and support staff flood into Brooklyn Tech, they enter their cleaned classrooms, offices, and bathrooms without much of a second thought.
While we take for granted how hard this massive, 10-floor, century-old building is to run, the custodial staff faces the challenge every day. Led by 30-year Department of Education veteran, Paul Magliocco, and his staff of nearly 40 full-time firemen, handymen, and cleaners, are here year-round to make it all possible. Some on this team have been at Tech for over 20 years now, and know the building inside out.
Custodial staff arrive as early as 5 am, ready for another day with thousands of students, teachers, and guests coming in and out of the building, riding the elevators, using the bathrooms and locker rooms, and eating in the cafeteria.
The cleaning process starts longfar before any students step into the building, and, according to Magliocco, it never ends- keeping the building in tip-top condition is a year round undertaking, with intensive cleanings taking place over the summer break and breaks throughout the year and on weekends. The to-do list over breaks like during the summer include repainting all parts of the building, fixing radiator/air conditioning systems, and obviously a deep cleaning to break down the wear-and-tear that can build up over the course of 10 months.
Magliocco described spring break as a “mini summer cleaning” to get the building ready for the final stretch of the school year and regents exams.
Despite its obvious importance, custodial work at Tech has become increasingly complicated due to constant funding cuts that force Magliocco and his staff to make difficult decisions about their priorities. Magliocco revealed that this past year, $175,000 had been spent on supplies- from soap to cleaning equipment and even wax for the floors. Although the sum seems hefty, with 576,000square feet of building to maintain, it is barely enough.
Supplies can be extremely costly. Magliocco noted that a 4 pack of soap for Tech bathrooms, which lasts less than half a day, costs nearly 100 dollars per package. At times, the Parents Association (PA) has helped make up for any shortfalls, but the difficulties that Magliocco and his staff face go beyond just a lack of funding.
There is a dwindling number of city-employed plumbers and electricians who are on call to deal with emergency issues that might arise during the day. With only four plumbers for nearly 400 schools in Brooklyn, it can take months for issues to be fixed, leading the school to shut down bathrooms for extended periods of time. Tech’s size also exacerbates these delays, as issues will often not be classified as emergencies because of the large number of bathrooms available.
An element of the custodial system falls onto students’ shoulders. Simple tasks, like making sure to sort garbage correctly, makes collection by city workers easier and more efficient, and at the same time can benefit our environment and promote sustainability. As students, we can also take care of the facilities to the best of our ability, as there have been countless incidents with soap and paper towel dispensers ripped off the walls and even stalls destroyed.
Despite all of these challenges outside of the staff’s control, Magliocco remains committed to the high standards he has set for the building, and with his vast experience has been able to mitigate issues on his own, like making sure electricity could get to the stoves in the cafeteria, ensuring that students would receive breakfast in the morning.
When asked if Tech’s exceptional condition will change, Magliocco answered convincingly: “Not as long as I’m here.”
