BEVERLY — Sandra Gordon stopped just short of announcing that there was a new sheriff in town Tuesday night when it comes to janitorial services at Sutherland Elementary School.
Gordon broke protocol during the public comments section of the meeting of the Local School Council to address the concerns of the roughly 50 parents gathered in the school's cafetorium at 10015 S. Leavitt St. in Beverly.
"It's a brand new day as of last Friday. I am here," Gordon said. "I will live here."
Gordon greeted those attending the meeting at the door and distributed note cards where parents could write down questions for her and other managers at Aramark — the school's janitorial service provider for the past two years.
The meeting was expected to be contentious after parents erupted when icy sidewalks greeted students returning from winter break on Jan. 4. This incident proved to be a launching pad, as the school's Facebook page quickly filled with gripes not just about Aramark's snow removal but also the overall conditions of the school.
Many of these same concerns were repeated on Tuesday night, as parents offered examples of unclean lunch tables, bathrooms so unsanitary that students refused to use them and trash strewn about the school and campus.
One parent said her child returned home to report seeing a janitor kill a rodent with a broom in the same cafetorium that hosted Tuesday's meeting.
Gordon sat patiently listening to the stories. She also kept her cool while her district manager, Willie Porter, outlined the various improvement plans. Aramark has new protocols for daily cleaning, weekend deep cleans and major cleaning projects scheduled for spring and summer breaks at Sutherland, he said.
But as the meeting was wrapping up, Gordon took the floor. She began reading the questions on the cards one at a time and addressing the concerns with short, direct answers.
"Do you think our school is clean?" she read aloud from one of the note cards.
"No," Gordon replied bluntly, having previously explained that she began working in her family's janitorial company at the age of 16.
"I will make you this promise, you will see improvement," Gordon said. "This is truly my passion."
At times visibly emotional, Sandra explained that she too was appalled at the conditions at Sutherland when the school was placed under her watch. She said some changes have already been made — including adding a nightly power wash to the bathrooms.
Others will take more time, including refurbishing stairways and wood floors. Gordon also promised to tackle cleaning the school's hard-to-reach light fixtures and even scrubbing the walls.
"It can be clean, and it will be clean," Gordon said. She plans to make daily checks on school conditions — mostly between the hours of 6-8 a.m.
Gordon is a custodial manager and in charge of overseeing the janitorial staff at 15 Chicago Public Schools for Aramark, Porter explained after the meeting. He described the manager as his "superstar."
The previous manager overseeing Sutherland was moved out of the position after the snow removal flub, as was one of the three custodians assigned to the school, Porter said.
Sutherland has one daytime custodian and two custodians who clean at night. The daytime custodian is responsible for snow removal during his or her shift. This includes all sidewalks and outside stairwells. The parking lots are maintained by a third party, Porter said.
The school engineer is also supposed to help with snow removal during the day shift. This person handles maintenance of the facility such as oversight of the school boiler and whatnot, Porter said.
If snow accumulates in the evening, the two nighttime custodians are supposed to handle snow removal at the school of 697 students in the heart of Beverly, Porter said.
He described the snow removal flub at Sutherland on Jan. 4 as a "hiccup." And added that the school's engineer was on vacation at the time of the storm. The custodian simply dropped the ball, Porter said.
Sutherland Principal Eric Steinmiller said he appreciated the newfound level of accountability from Aramark. He also seemed genuinely excited by the new protocols put in place to keep the school clean.
"Our next step is to make sure we keep moving through this timeline," he said.
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