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FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Support Staff Matter ()
Date: June 15, 2015 12:31PM

The past few years of Dr. Dale and Garza, have been nightmarish for support staff. That's right, while some might mock, the matter has caused an overload of work orders waiting to be filled. It would save $ for county residents to hire more maintenance employees. Without us, education can be a problem, so its time for no more of this nonsense.

Locksmiths, plumbers, electricians, have all been cut down to such small sizes, that in my opinion safety of faculty, students, staff, the community could be at risk. Its not a good idea to short staff those who may not be glamorous, but do a lot more than desk sitters for 8 to however many hours a day. Its a disgrace. I still work hard but FCPS has changed a lot. The teachers and maintenance folks are tired.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Our School ()
Date: June 15, 2015 12:47PM

Our school offered to knock out a bunch of these outstanding work orders using volunteers through the PTO.

The principal told us that it was against school policy; could not allow us to do it.

Until you all figure out how to do more with less, you have no sympathy from me.

Not every worker gets two parking spaces... once for your car and one for your green truck. Enjoy the perqs.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: No Half Assed Work Allowed ()
Date: June 15, 2015 01:08PM

>Our school offered to knock out a bunch of these outstanding work orders using volunteers through the PTO.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOL Gubment sandcrabs that cant find the air cleaner on their car. They would be wiring up suicide plugs and the turds would flow uphill instead of down.


>Not every worker gets two parking spaces... once for your car and one for your green truck. Enjoy the perqs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where is there any "perq" about having a parking space in Fairfax? As far as those green trucks go, they should park them all over your yard since you are too stupid to know they belong to the county not the employees, what a dumb remark

Start cutting the Gatehouse waste overhead. Get rid of the "coaches" and get back to more basics.

Sounds like when the DOD cut back and the trash piled up in the Pentagon , yet not a single sandcrab lost their job.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: dinner meeting ()
Date: June 15, 2015 01:11PM

There be a meeting at Clyde's/Tyson's at 5pm tonight for all admins to discuss this issue.

I am sure it is a lot of work keeping up with the maintenance issues. Thank you for your hard work.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: how is this possible? ()
Date: June 15, 2015 01:23PM

FCPS has hired neuroscience and poverty expert Eric Jensen, and "psychotherapist with psychiatric hospital privileges" Menville "Flip" Flippen. How can anything be wrong?

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: K7742 ()
Date: June 15, 2015 01:28PM

Our School Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Our school offered to knock out a bunch of these
> outstanding work orders using volunteers through
> the PTO.
>
> The principal told us that it was against school
> policy; could not allow us to do it.
>
> Until you all figure out how to do more with less,
> you have no sympathy from me.
>
> Not every worker gets two parking spaces... once
> for your car and one for your green truck. Enjoy
> the perqs.



"Perqs." Thank you for revealing your teaching background.

Principals aren't always the people with "common sense," so volunteering for maintenance tasks doesn't surprise me. They are book smart, but tying their shoes, not a chance.

There's a little problem with that "bright idea"=liability.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Nice to know ()
Date: June 15, 2015 01:32PM

Nice to know all you FCPS staffers have time to peruse Fairfax Underground during the workday. But didn't the admins block access from FCPS computers? How do you do it?

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Support Staff Matter ()
Date: June 15, 2015 01:49PM

Nice to know Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice to know all you FCPS staffers have time to
> peruse Fairfax Underground during the workday.
> But didn't the admins block access from FCPS
> computers? How do you do it?


I'm not at a school, but rather off with annual leave. No I'm not complaining about that, but with not adequate staffing, its difficult to help those out that do matter. The kids, members of our community. All the maintenance staff feel this way, or at least the majority. Those whom care, deliver good service, work hard, etc.

Agreed with above. I wouldn't want volunteers, good intent, to fix anything. They'd probably get hurt or worse, and cost the county a lot of $.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: English teacher ()
Date: June 15, 2015 03:08PM

K7742 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Perqs." Thank you for revealing your teaching
> background.
>


per qui site / noun formal another term for perk 2. a thing regarded as a special right or privilege enjoyed as a result of one's position. plural noun: perquisites. "the wife of a president has all the perquisites of stardom"

"Your" welcome. Now go "perk" yourself.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Our School ()
Date: June 15, 2015 03:25PM

Our PTO includes licensed electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, carpenters, pretty much all the trades. Some of the tasks we offered to do and were not allowed:

Repair handrails.
Paint.
Repair sheds.
Replace broken switch plates.
Repair light fixtures.
Clear the brush from the woods near the field.
Replace outdoor trash bins.
Remove snow.
Build shelves.
Repair desks and chairs.
Clean graffiti.
Check the HVAC system.

But they did allow us to plant flowers and rake the garden.
And provide tennis balls to put on the chair legs.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Date: June 15, 2015 05:33PM

What the public does not know is that the school system has many helpers in the maintenance dept. You cant leave tools around kids when your working, you cant leave a electric panel box open, you need some parts off the truck some one is there to guard the job or to keep the area clear so no one gets hurt.

Take a look at the school systems long time excellent safety record with maintenance people working in the buildings around the students and you will see why safety is the #1 reason they take precautions and don't want people who don't know their safety rules and methods working there. Most of the mechanics there have started as helpers and worked up to be the Plumber, Electrician ect. And it takes time to do it.

There have been many people in the electric shop as well as other shops with a masters license who have even been helpers. But just like a commercial business there's only 1 master in each shop who pulls all the permits and under their license all the work is done. So who is going to be holding the masters licenses for the PTO and pull any permits and be responsible for the work?
Master Mechanical License, Master Electrician, Master Plumber.

You could also look at what the County requires to allow a contractor to do work in a school and there are many requirements.

Its a pity that the schools have billions for all kinds of upper admin and other positions that are not needed and not enough money to keep things running safely.

That's doing a great job?? With all the money there getting already?

Leadership starts at the top and that's where changes need to be made.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Not buying it ()
Date: June 16, 2015 12:23AM

Double Action Jackson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> You could also look at what the County requires to
> allow a contractor to do work in a school and
> there are many requirements.
>

Are you saying that someone in Fairfax County holds FCPS to a higher standard than commercial and residential projects? I doubt that very much.

One example: Try to get a permit to build a 160 sq ft shed like the ones they have at schools. The county would require you to build a foundation. Not so at the schools.

FCPS is also allowed to connect electrical supply where it can be easily accessed. Every so often a kid gets a jolt. Again, not allowed in commercial or residential.

And what business is allowed to have a permanent porta potty? Yet you see them at lots of schools. For the SACC kids to go fishing I suppose.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: FPAC ()
Date: June 16, 2015 02:34AM

The Facilities Planning Advisory Council (citizen volunteers) has reported for years that the maintenance department is underfunded. Their reports can be found here: http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/committees/fpac.shtml

I remember the School Board had an outside firm audit the maintenance group a few years ago and the report of their organization and its efficiency was very favorable, but said they were grossly understaffed and had suffered continuous cuts over the years.

I like the idea of using volunteers for some simple routine maintenance tasks, but I prefer some tasks such as electrical work, air conditioning, and plumbing be left to the professionals who are trained in their trade and held accountable for the quality of thei work.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: buTvJ ()
Date: June 16, 2015 07:26AM

FCPS would be far better off subcontracting out the repair and maintenance for many of their projects. As long as there was some form of oversight at Gatehouse that kept a few on the program from taking kickbacks this would work out quite well.

The guys in the green trucks spend most of their time driving around the 400 square miles of Fairfax and I have never seen these guys break a sweat or move with any urgency.

With the salary, benefits and retirement that FCPS/the tax payers have to support, you could have the most expensive contractors in the areas double and triple dipping and we would still be far ahead of the game.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: mjs ()
Date: June 16, 2015 07:33AM

Nice to know Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice to know all you FCPS staffers have time to
> peruse Fairfax Underground during the workday.
> But didn't the admins block access from FCPS
> computers? How do you do it?

personal Ipad with a data plan, while the kiddies watch movies this week.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: JJGCv ()
Date: June 16, 2015 07:43AM

3 1/2 year renovation projects at these schools are a MAJOR distraction.

Having a soil compactor vibrating the entire building while you are in class makes it pretty hard to stay focused along with hammering and dropping things on the floor above you.

I get these buildings are old and need renovation, however, some of these renovations/contract awards were so out of sync and entire Summer was missed for the start of demolition.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: Buying it Now ()
Date: June 17, 2015 06:09PM

Did some digging and found this. It appears the guys in the green trucks really are short handed. No wonder the schools look worse every year.

http://www.fcps.edu/schlbd/internalaudit/external%20reviews/Jul%202012%20Final%20Report%20for%20Performance%20Management%20Assessment.pdf

The summary says:

Overall, the FCPS OFM is well organized and has developed processes that are strategically
aligned to help FCPS achieve the overall business initiatives of the school system by providing a
safe and comfortable environment that supports teaching and learning. There is a high degree of technical and managerial competence and high levels of trust both within the organization and of the organization by OFM customers. OFM operates well above the average public school system in terms of strategic planning, operations and maintenance effectiveness and efficiency, use of supporting information technologies and performance measurement.

While OFM is well organized and generally using resources effectively, our K-12 benchmarking analyses indicated a clear and substantial shortage of staff and funding levels. At the time of this assessment there were 462 full-time staff in OFM, including 288 front-line maintenance trades/crafts. Using a number of independent benchmarking sources and our experience with other similar K-12 facilities organizations, we identified a shortfall of about 264 full-time equivalents (FTEs) of front-line maintenance staff. This is a critical issue considering the aging facilities, increased total maintainable school areas and shrinking operations and capital budgets over the past two decades. This shortfall does not include grounds, custodial, supervisory or support positions.

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Re: FCPS Support Staff: No Maintenance=Education Distractions
Posted by: I thought you were broke ()
Date: June 17, 2015 09:05PM

mjs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice to know Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice to know all you FCPS staffers have time to
> > peruse Fairfax Underground during the workday.
> > But didn't the admins block access from FCPS
> > computers? How do you do it?
>
> personal Ipad with a data plan, while the kiddies
> watch movies this week.


I thought everybody who worked for the school system was broke. An Ipad with a data plan?

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