"When maintaining a school, we pay not only for bricks and mortar, but also student and staff well-being.  Effective school maintenance protects capital investment, ensures the health and safety of our children, and supports educational performance." ~ Planning Guild for Maintaining School Facilities


Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds

Eric Hevy
[email protected]
413-569-5391 x 2507
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Introduction:

Our staff plans, coordinates, and provides maintenance, custodial and grounds services and repairs to school facilities throughout Southwick. We provide services to the following school facilities:

• *Southwick Regional School, 93 Feeding Hills Road. 165,000 sq. ft.
• *Powder Mill School, 94 Powder Mill Road.   96,500 sq. ft.
• *Woodland School, 80 Powder Mill Road.   67,500 sq. ft.
• *Maintenance Building, 80 Powder Mill Road.     6,000 sq. ft.

Working two shifts and overtime for weekend events, we have eleven full-time custodians, two maintenance/groundskeepers, and one working director.  The grounds work that we do includes mowing, landscaping, tree trimming string trimming, spring and fall clean up, the athletic field, the irrigation system, moving equipment and furnishings between locations, and conducting snow removal operations from all sidewalks. We clean the buildings daily, do repairs on equipment, construction, plumbing and electrical problems. Also, we snake clogged drain lines, along with routine scheduled maintenance.

Contracted & Inspected Services:

Beyond the building oversight and assessments conducted daily as part of the work by custodial, maintenance, and grounds staff, outside contractors are hired to perform inspections at the schools and to complete preventive maintenance where needed. In most cases the inspections are regulatory, and code driven. Outside contractors are used in the following areas:

• Elevators – quarterly preventive maintenance and annual state inspections
• Sprinkler system inspections
• Boiler maintenance and annual insurance inspections
• Fire Extinguishers – annual inspections and upgrades
• Fire detection system – annual inspections
• Backflow preventer – inspections
• AHERA (Asbestos Harzardous Emergency Response Act) – update management plan
• HVAC repairs
• BMS control repairs
• Ansul Systems – annual inspections
• Grease tanks clean out
• Water Quality – coordinate water testing with City Water Department
• Snow Removal

Energy:

The BMS for all schools operate on an occupancy system that shuts down to minimum requirements when unoccupied. The system is adjusted only when needed for after-hours events.

Capital Improvement Planning:

Based on ongoing building systems and equipment assessments by staff, we develop a plan to replace, repair, or upgrade components or systems. These items include unanticipated needs or emergency repairs that arise.  The need to address deferred maintenance and upgrade systems or components is based on their age and life cycle. Estimated costs are based on firm quotes or budget estimates that are developed.  We list these items based on priority.

Budgets:

Budget lines for school maintenance have been slightly increased over the last year.

To keep costs down for custodial, maintenance planning, and operations we do the following:

• Work with staff so that more work is done in-house (i.e., repair of equipment, replacing belts, filters, pumps, motors, and plumbing fixtures and all general repairs.
• Figure out ways to address needs to minimize deferred maintenance.
• Look for less expensive products to cut costs.
• used all older stocked supplies

AHERA NOTICE (availability of Asbestos Management Plan)

ANNUAL ASBESTOS NOTIFICATION LETTER ~ School Year 2025- 2026

On October 22, 1986, Congress promulgated the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), Public Law 99-519. AHERA mandated that EPA develop regulations to respond to asbestos in schools. On October 30, 1987, EPA promulgated the Asbestos-Containing Materials in Schools rule, 40 CFR Part 763, Subpart E. This rule requires that all of the nation’s nonprofit elementary and secondary schools, both public and private, inspect their school buildings for asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM), develop a plan to manage the asbestos for each school building, and notify parents and staff regarding management plan availability. A copy of our district’s Asbestos Management Plan is available in each school and at the District’s Office of Facilities and Grounds during regular school hours.

Inquiries regarding the management of asbestos-containing materials in our schools should be directed to our District's AHERA Designated Person, Eric M. Hevy, who can be reached at 86 Powder Mill Road, Southwick, MA  01077 and [email protected] or 413-569-5391  x2507

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Community Use of Facilities:

KF Community Use of School Facilities