This time of year it is almost like time speeds up and the days just fly off of the calendar until the end of another school year comes to a close. Sure we might all be counting down those last days, but in a blink of an eye, summer is here. Nearly at mid May right now, there are really just a few short weeks until the lockers get cleaned out, the classrooms get stripped down and summer maintenance and cleaning shift into high gear. And of course, as seasons change so do your school cleaning needs. None of us want to head into summer or even fall’s approaching school year without a concrete plan for school cleaning and maintenance. As an administrator or facility manager ask yourself, do you have a plan for summer school cleaning and maintenance? And do you have the right janitorial services to help get your campus, school or educational facility in tip top, ready to learn condition? How can you and your school cleaning service make the most of the time and reduced traffic summer offers and start the new school year with your best foot forward?
During the busy school year, many updates, repairs and deep cleaning are just too hard to tackle. So summer can offer just the right time for you and your school custodial services to catch up on your school’s to do list and even make updates and repairs you may have put off during the school year. General upkeep and preventive maintenance during the quieter summer months sets you up for smoother operation during the demanding school year. Likewise, if you have been settling with school janitorial services that are less than stellar, this time of year can be good for rethinking your school cleaning service so that you can face the new school year with the right partner, ready to care for your school facility at the level you, your staff and students deserve. The reality is that with school maintenance budgets still tight, it is essential that you are getting the best value possible from your school cleaning companies. If your current janitorial services contractor is failing to make the grade, now can offer a good time to put the energy into reconsidering your options.
If your school cleaning company isn’t making the grade, summer offers a fitting time to reexamine your school cleaning company. Is your janitorial company doing the work they promised? Is your school cleaning service delivering responsive, consistent service? Is your commercial cleaning company communicating with you? Are your school cleaners making the most of your school cleaning budget? If you answered no to any of these, it is likely time to reconsider your options and work to find a school cleaning company that will better meet your needs and those of your facility. And if you are currently using in-house school cleaning and are not getting the results you want, it might be in your interest to investigate outsourcing your school cleaning in order to get the most professional service at a value you can appreciate. And if you are mostly with your school janitorial company, summer still affords a good time to sit down with your school cleaners and assess ways in which your needs may have changed. Do you have more students than before? Have changes to your facility or the way you use it created gaps in janitorial service that should be addressed. Has your budget changed requiring you to either do more with less or maybe more opening up unserviced areas that you can now fold into your current school maintenance plan? The most effective and experienced school cleaning companies can maximize your budget and revisit the plan of attack to make sure you are getting precisely what you need.
A clean and well maintained school and campus do more than just boost your school’s appearance, they create an engaging, positive learning environment that sends everyone the right message. During the fast-paced school year when school is in session larger school maintenance projects, deep cleaning and even renovations would interfere with classroom learning. So summer provides a better time for general repairs and exhaustive cleaning that are easier to tackle without the movement of students and staff. What kind of cleaning and maintenance are ideally completed during the reduced traffic summer provides many learning facilities? A detailed inspection of your school and learning facilities can help you and your janitorial services company uncover areas that might require attention. Building maintenance projects might include items like wall repair, roof repairs and painting, professional floor care, power washing, complete window cleaning and even construction cleanup after summer renovations. Likewise, your janitorial services company can tackle heavily trafficked areas like cafeterias, gyms and bathrooms to do deep cleaning that prepare these spaces for the busy school year and flood of students.
While deep cleaning is a must do project for summer, the summer slow down also offers a good opportunity to catch up on preventive maintenance and a to do list of needed maintenance that didn’t get tackled over the school year. The extra effort of addressing routine and preventive maintenance can extend the life of your lighting, boilers, HVAC systems, sprinklers, plumbing and more making it a worthy and cost effective endeavor. Professional maintenance can help reduce unexpected and emergency maintenance that always seems to happen at the worst times and ends up being more expensive. And as critical as the maintenance of the interior of your school is, don’t forget to inspect and evaluate what might be needed for the exterior and the surrounding property like repairing/replacing outdoor lighting, maintenance and repair of playground areas, landscaping, windows and other related things. Many experienced building services contractors will offer a menu of maintenance services in addition to school cleaning services so you can use an already trusted contractor to help you manage your to do list.
The school year is so busy that there is often little time for planning the ongoing maintenance your facility needs making summer a good time to catch up on anything that got pushed back in favor of more pressing needs. Does your facility have areas that need special attention? What things should be on every school's cleaning and maintenance checklist?
Whether you have a great school cleaning company or need to find the right janitorial services for your learning facility, summer offers time to rethink your school cleaning, address the individual needs of your building, catch up and even spend the time finding a better option when it comes to your facility maintenance and school cleaning.