By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Chuck Martin is not a math teacher, but he was throwing around some pretty big numbers to the Bowling Green Board of Education Tuesday evening.
- 238 – the number of toilets and urinals in city school buildings
- 195 – sinks and faucets
- 2,600 – classroom lighting fixtures
- 8,000 – fluorescent light tubes
Martin, head of school maintenance, said his department fixes everything from chairs to pencil sharpeners. They repair leaking faucets, problem urinals, and replace light bulbs.
“There’s a lot to go wrong,” Martin said.
The work doesn’t end inside the buildings. The maintenance staff plows snow, salts parking lots, trims trees and cuts grass.
The maintenance department gets an average of four to five work requests per day. Since Aug. 1 of last year, Martin has received 498 such requests.
In many cases, repairs can’t be made immediately since delivery time is often slow for outdated items such as the district’s toilets.
“We have to wait for a lot of the parts,” he told the board.
At the end of Martin’s presentation on school maintenance, board of education member Ginny Stewart commented on Martin’s dedication to his job. Earlier this school year, Stewart said she drove past the bus maintenance building at 7 a.m. on a holiday when schools were closed for the day.
“There was Chuck, standing out in front of the building in the freezing weather, on a holiday,” Stewart said.
Stewart later found out that one of the school buildings had a boiler issue that day, and Martin wanted to make sure the heat worked when the kids returned to school the next day.
“He does his job, and he does it quietly, and he does it very well,” she said.
Jody Anderson thanks Officer Robin Short for helping with AED training.
In other business at Tuesday’s school board meeting, Police Officer Robin Short was recognized for volunteering her time to train staff on use of AEDs in all of the school buildings.
Superintendent Francis Scruci talked about the third annual job fair held by the district earlier than other school districts in the region.
“Our theory is if we get to them before the job fairs start,” Bowling Green can get the best from the pool of candidates.
Scruci also reported the middle school addition is on pace, as well as the expansion of the cafeteria. Both should be ready for next year when the enrollment spike will hit the building. He noted the cafeteria expansion is being constructed with safety concerns in mind.
The retirements of two long-time teachers were announced. Nancy Euler, sixth grade English teacher formerly of Kenwood Elementary, will be greatly missed, Middle School Principal Eric Radabaugh said. And Brian Kopp, high school health teacher will be retiring after 35 years. Kopp has become an institution at the school, high school principal Jeff Dever said.
Supt. Francis Scruci introduces swimming champs.
Also at the school board meeting several outstanding athletes were recognized, including:
- Girls bowling team NLL champions Kelly Miller, Destiny Garner and Sofia Calderon.
- Boys bowling team NLL champion James Alfaro.
- High school swimming state champion CJ Layne, and All-NLL Jack Burroughs, Rona Mejiritski, Jesse He and Darrin Kirchner.
- Boys basketball first team All-NLL Isaac Elsasser.
- Ice hockey first team All-NHC Blake Powers.
- Wrestling NLL champs JT Pickens, Max Fausnaugh and Nick Jackson.
