Office of Maintenance and Custodial Services

The care of school buildings and grounds

Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Maintenance and Custodial Services manages and cares for the school divisions’ buildings and grounds while handling smaller-scale repairs (through the completion of work orders), and also the cleaning of school buildings. Facility pages have been set up for each school to keep families and the Alexandria community aware of such events as well as planned repairs and modernization.

Monthly Work Order Report

During the month of April 2021, the Office of Maintenance and Custodial Services received nearly 200 work orders. The chart below shows a summary of the primary work orders addressed. The craft refers to the systems or category of the work order, the quantity refers to the number of work orders received, and the facilities refers to the number of schools and facilities where work was performed. Our thanks go out to the staff at ACPS for handling the investigation and repairs of our facilities and their issues to maintain a safe and efficient environment for staff and visitors alike.

School-Wide Air Purifier Installation Program

ACPS classroom and learning spaces air quality improvement initiative

During the week of May 3, 2021, Maintenance and Custodial Services executed a mass installation project in all Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) classrooms and learning spaces as proposed during the April 22, 2021 School Board Meeting that mentioned improving air quality in our facilities. 

Air purifiers were distributed and installed throughout ACPS schools and classrooms in accordance with our continued dedication to safety protocols amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These air purifiers will ensure our efforts for the safety of our students and staff maintain a priority.

How effective are these air purifiers? They can clean the air of an average-sized classroom in well under an hour, and their medical-grade filters can capture 99.99% of airborne contaminants down to 0.1 microns, including allergens and aerosolized viruses that can spread from person to person. Since these air purifiers are also designed to operate continuously without ever needing to shut off, they will ensure our classrooms and other facilities have clean air circulating through them at all times.

Nearly 1,400 of these air purifiers were deployed to 22 educational facilities where they were tested, installed, and activated in classrooms, gymnasiums, and auditoriums, as well as other approved areas beneficial to teaching and learning. For more information about these air purifiers, visit Alen, the supplier for these units. Our building engineers are responsible for the replacement of the air filters and ensuring they are working properly.

PPE Information for ACPS Schools

The health and safety of students, staff and visitors is a top priority for ACPS, which is why Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is so important in our facilities.

Maintenance and Custodial Services has made an extensive effort to provide students and staff with reusable face masks to be used when and where necessary, as well as providing and supplying disposable masks to those who need them. Schools and facilities that require PPE reach out to the Maintenance and Custodial Services team using a work order system to have their requests fulfilled and to provide continuity of PPE service.

Cleaning and disinfecting occurs on a daily basis in most of our facilities, and this requires dozens of wipes, sprays and gloves to ensure that practically every surface touched by a student or staff member has a significantly reduced chance of spreading harmful germs or bacteria. Following guidelines and recommendations set by both the CDC and Alexandria Health Department allows our city's residents and students to be confident in the diligent work performed by ACPS staff in ensuring safety and cleanliness.