Karina Gonzalez
With 427 acres to cover and more than 20,000 students to clean up after, keeping Pierce College clean is no easy feat.
Other students mentioned the scuffed and dirty walls, out-of-date and curling papers on bulletin boards all over the campus, greasy keyboards and computer mice, and the contrast between the cleanliness of this campus and Santa Monica and Moorpark colleges.
These comments by Pierce students indicate something is amiss on one of the Los Angeles Community College District’s largest campuses. Paul Nieman, director of Plant Facilities, says his goal is to run a Disney-quality campus, but the custodial staffing he is provided with leaves most of the means for doing so on his wish list. Recent pressure to increase enrollment has meant that the college is offering more classes now, which leaves less time for cleaning, with classes starting earlier and more classrooms being unavailable for cleaning because they are in use. Although the ‘A’ shift, which is responsible for the main cleaning of the campus, starts at 4:30 a.m. with 22 custodians, classrooms start to fill with people at 8 a.m., so only half of the shift is student-free. According to Nieman, when fully staffed, each custodian has 25,000 square feet of campus to clean, which is 8,000 square feet more than the industry average of 17,000 square feet per custodian. The ‘B’ shift runs from noon to 8:30 p.m., but it consists of only two people and much of their time is spent moving furniture. The school is empty after 10:00 p.m. and almost empty on Sundays, so what about nights and weekends? That’s when Disney gets most of its rigorous cleaning done. Nieman says that would be very expensive since the custodians’ union contract requires overtime pay for anyone who works on a weekend.In 2004, the late-night ‘C’ shift was cut districtwide, so Nieman’s ambition to run a Disney-quality campus isn’t likely to happen when the custodians are here at the same time as the students. Five vacant custodial positions, custodians calling in sick, and others taking vacation leave means that full staffing is only theoretical; it never actually happens. Because it isn’t possible to do it all, the Plant Facilities department has to prioritize what should be cleaned every day. The entrance to the campus – the administration building – is a priority, as is the College Services building and picking up litter. However, that means pulling the trash and swabbing the restrooms are usually the only things there is time to do in the classrooms and other buildings.”I find it very difficult to write on the boards when they are not clean,” said Patricia Miller, a french instructor. “it pretty much makes it difficult for students.”In regards to the floors, Miller said, “It could be swept and steamed.” A simple sweep would clear any large debris and then a floor steamer can get rid off any marks or sticky bits whilst killing harmful bacteria. Litter is the biggest problem and cigarette butts are a major part of it. Since smoking is only allowed in designated areas, there are no ashtrays available in other areas. Cigarette butt patterns indicate that students smoke as much outside of designated smoking areas as they do in them. and even many of those who do smoke in the designated areas don’t use ashtrays…but that may be because there aren’t any.