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Cleaner campuses help school attendance
By Betse Esparza / Editor
Alpine Independent School District considers good attendance of its students among its highest priorities.
On any given day, students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade may miss school for doctors appointments or family emergencies, but illness constitutes the greatest percentage of absences.
Texas public school districts receive a large portion of their state funding based on an average daily attendance of at least 96 percent of the total student body.
According to Superintendent Mike Davis, about $30.55 is lost per student, per absence. The district averages about 50 absences a day, which amounts to $1,500.
Because of the need for state funds and for the general well-being of the students, each campus in the Alpine district has a custodial staff that works to sanitize everything from doorknobs to phones.
"They do a million things on a day-to-day basis," said Alpine High School Principal Verl O'Bryant.
Each day, the phone receivers and keypads are wiped with a clean cloth, as are the doorknobs and push plates on swinging doors. The bathrooms are also cleaned daily.
"When we have a bad outbreak, and usually there's one every year, we have some things we do," he said.
During those times, custodians may clean doorknobs and other frequently used areas three or four times daily.
The AHS Student Council provides signs as reminders for students to wash their hands in the restrooms.
"That's probably the biggest thing that could be done is kids washing their hands," said O'Bryant. "Even if [illness] is on one campus, we look for it coming to ours."
Alpine Middle School Principal Jim Angst said he appreciates the work of the custodial staff.
"They kind of got the grimy, nasty, dirty work," he said.
Angst said they must use state-approve cleaning agents and that hand sanitizer is kept throughout the school.
"These upcoming months are going to be the hard ones," he said.
At the beginning of the year in a general assembly, students are taught how to wash their hands, and that lesson is often reinforced during their advisory periods. Soap dispensers are kept full and the trash is emptied as often as possible.
"We just monitor what goes on," he said.
Alpine Elementary School Principal Ebby Loeffler said hand-sanitizer is kept throughout her campus, as well, and teachers keep Clorox wipes in their classrooms.
Water fountains, sinks, doorknobs and bathrooms are cleaned daily.
"Attendance is good. If we're running at about 97 percent, it probably helps," she said. "There's a stomach bug going around now, so we need to take some extra precautions."
The custodial staff includes, at the elementary school, Alfonso Chavez, Robert Torres, Robert Cordova and Vivian Torres; at the middle school, Zeke Contreras, Rosa Gonzales and Leo Navarrette; and at the high school, Henry Ramos, Epi Carrasco and Alicia Layne.
"The school can't function without them," said Angst. "They stop the spread of germs and disease."
Comments? E-mail editor@alpineavalanche.com
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