District 88 facilities change with the seasons

Moving into the fall months means some changes in the Buildings and Grounds Department at District 88.

From putting the fields “to bed” for the season, to air quality in the buildings, to stepping up our daily sanitizing of areas and surfaces, the Buildings and Grounds Department is busy preparing for the colder weather.

District 88 is comprised of two large campuses that encompass more than 150 acres (Addison Trail with 65 and Willowbrook with 85). With that amount of space comes maintaining multiple types of fields. Baseball and softball fields are reworked, and materials are added to help with reopening them in the spring. By doing this fall work, we are able to “dry out” the field conditions quicker in the spring, so games can be played during a time when wet conditions are the norm.

Equipment also is changed over from summer cutting decks to snow-removing equipment, and many machines are used for both seasons. As grounds crews are working outside, the maintenance staffs are working inside the buildings to change all air filters (more than 400 in each building, which are changed four times annually). Along with that, the systems are changed from summer chiller (800 tons of a/c cooling for each building) to heating boilers (3 to 5 million BTU boilers for each building), which must be inspected and certified by local and state fire marshals every three years.

On our roofs, a total of 27 (both campuses) package rooftop units are gone through as well. Just like your furnace at home, those units have a burner compartment that needs to be monitored, taken apart and cleaned. Much of that work begins during the summer months and continues into the fall.

The sanitizing and cleanliness of the facilities is at the top of our list. In all of the restrooms, we have changed from liquid soap to a “green” foaming hand soap, which does not need water to rinse. All classrooms have liquid hand sanitizer dispensers, which are checked regularly. Door handles and locker handles are sprayed with disinfectant on a regular basis, along with regular daily cleaning of the buildings.

As you can see, the fall months do bring some changes to the facilities at District 88. The well-being of our students, staff, families and visitors has been, and will continue to be, our top priority and ongoing focus.

For questions about District 88 facilities, feel free to call me at 630-530-3996, or e-mail me at TManka@dupage88.net.