By Marshall Hook
There is very little in the world that wasn’t touched by the COVID pandemic. People’s jobs, businesses, and ways of life were all altered in some way over the past 15 months. But perhaps no area was as subject to discussion and emotion as the ability of kids to attend school in-person. When school buildings began to reopen to students, job No. 1 was making sure kids and teachers would remain safe.
At the Martin Elementary School in Norwalk, Conn., that responsibility fell to AffinEco’s Jose Toro. As head custodian for the school, his job is to manage a team of janitors cleaning the school both before and after students are on premises.
“I start at 6:30 in the morning, open all the doors and get the building all ready before anyone comes for the day,” said Toro. “I start to clean the bathrooms, clean the rooms and am then here during the day in case something needs to be cleaned.”
While Toro and his team are responsive during the school day to whatever unexpected may come up, they are also following a set schedule of regular cleaning and disinfecting protocols to keep the building safe as students and teachers move throughout.
“In the middle of the day we clean all the desks in all the classrooms again,” Toro explained. “And after lunch, we’re cleaning all the bathrooms and tables again.”
Toro’s workday doesn’t end when the school day does. In fact, in his split shift, Toro goes home for a few hours before returning at night to conduct deeper cleaning that prepares the school for the next day.
He said he believes his job played an important part in keeping kids in school this spring. In fact, he has only been at the school for four months and so came to the Martin School with the specific task of getting it ready for teachers and students to return earlier this school year. The feedback he has received from staff members at the school, he said, has all been very positive.
Toro’s supervisor Eddie Lema echoed the positive reviews of Toro’s work.
“The principal in the school is very happy with the work he is doing,” said Lema. “He is supervising that school day and night and is checking to make sure everything is done right. The job needs to be done by 10 o’clock at night and he does it.”
Lema added that Toro worked for him for many years before AffinEco made the decision to put him in charge of the Martin School. Lema knew that he could trust Toro to do the job right. The school had experienced some problems before Toro got there. Had there been any issues after his arrival, Lema said he would have heard about it.
“I don’t get any calls. That’s great.”
For the Martin School – and for AffinEco – the situation has worked out well. Toro said he is happy the company trusted him enough to put him in this supervisory role and school leaders recognized the top-level service Toro’s team provided to keep the kids safe and in the classroom.
“The company needs someone like Jose: conscientious, gets there on-time, leaves on-time, good communication,” said Lema. “I couldn’t expect more. I’m really happy with him.”
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