The Aragon facilities department consists of six members on the night shift and four members on the day crew.
Many will refer to all people who have cleaning responsibilities as janitors, but this can demean members of the maintenance team, who do far more than the stereotypical janitorial duties.
“[The term ‘janitor’] just rubs everybody wrong because it’s the lowest part of the job that we do,” said plant manager Gaby Gonzalez. “[I’m] not trying to set it up as an echelon, [and] it is the most important part in many ways. But unfortunately, it makes it seem like [that’s] all we do [and that] we’re cleaning monkeys.”
The official term for members of the crew is School Plant Operations Employee.
“It’s kind of like going to a doctor and saying, ‘Excuse me, nurse’,” Gonzalez said. “They wouldn’t like that because they do a lot more, and [the term ‘janitor’] is along the same lines.”
“[The term ‘janitor’] just rubs everybody wrong because it’s the lowest part of the job that we do”
SPOEs work around the clock to keep Aragon running.
“The [crew] do event setups [and] event teardowns, [so] if something happens, they’re the first responders because they’re the ones who are here [after hours].” Gonzalez said. “If the fire alarm goes off, they’re going to make sure that the buildings are getting cleared. They’re going to meet the fire department, and they’re going to try to find out what caused the alarm.”
SPOE Ron Claiborne has been working at Aragon for 17 years, the longest of any other maintenance staff.
“[My] favorite part is the people because you meet a lot of interesting people,” Claiborne said. “This school is very diverse. The thing I dislike the most is graffiti, or when people break things for no particular reason.”
Other staff members agree that some students’ behavior can cause issues for the maintenance staff.
“I like my job but I don’t like when students write on the desks,” said SPOE Elizabeth Catanyag. “[I’ll sometimes] have rooms that are full of [desks] with graffiti, gum and [other] foods.”
Other staff echoed the same sentiment.
“Overall the job is nice but the thing that I like least is just when the bathrooms are really dirty,” said SPOE Raymond Quiles. “And [sometimes there are] cans and toilet paper everywhere.”
“So if [students] help clean up after [themselves], then that opens us up to be able to do more for the campus”
Still, some of the crew had humorous experiences to reflect on.
“Most of the crazy things I’ve had happen to me, can’t [be repeated],” Claiborne said. “This kid, one time, decided to take off his clothes. [He] was running around in his underwear, and half the kids were chasing him with their phones, trying to take a picture of him as he ran down the ramps.”
However, some jokes or pranks were at the expense of the maintenance staff.
“I remember some kids [who] threw a bunch of pumpkins in the swimming pool,” Claiborne said. “And they were really hard to get out. [Students] threw a mattress in there one time too.”
The members of the crew all agree that students should treat the campus with respect.
“If you take care of [the campus], then that allows us to do more,” Gonzalez said. “If we have to spend all of our time picking up garbage and wiping graffiti off of walls, we can’t do some kind of project that can make the school a nicer place. So if [students] help clean up after [themselves], then that opens us up to be able to do more for the campus.”
Claiborne agrees that students should clean up after themselves more to allow them time to do other work on campus.
“[Aragon is] home away from home, [so students should] try to keep it as clean as [they] can,” Claiborne said. “[And] we do appreciate the ‘thank you’ we get from students.”
By making sure to keep the campus clean, students can take pressure off School Plant Operations Employees and consequently make Aragon a better place for themselves.
