30 | SCHOOL PLANT MANAGER MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2026 Premier Restoration Contractors Kansas City, MO - 816-421-0909 | Springfield, MO - 417-865-9991 | www.mtscontracting.com Masonry Restoration Caulking and Sealants Concrete Restoration W e all understand how essential our custodial staff are to the daily operations of our buildings. Clean, well-maintained buildings effectively contribute to the school climate and culture. When students and staff have pride in their building and grounds, well- being and overall safety are improved. Further, custodians often serve as our true first responders during emergencies. When something is wrong, custodians are often the first to notice. They see similar patterns every day, which allows them to immediately notice anomalies. If a custodian is outside or in a hallway while students are in class, the custodian will be able to initiate an alert process to ensure others remain safe by taking the appropriate actions. During one of our country’s worst mass attacks at a school, a custodian reportedly ran down the halls alerting multiple classrooms. These actions may have saved dozens of lives. Do your custodians know that several The Power of Custodians By: Glen Moore, MSBA’s Center for Education Safety school attackers have made their final preparations or initiated their attacks in a school bathroom or similar space, such as a stairwell? If they see something unusual in these spaces, be certain they know how to safely remove themselves while alerting the rest of the school. Most custodians are also in possession of a two-way radio. This is another excellent way to alert the school with real-time information. Do your custodians participate in school safety training, drills, and exercises? If not, please make this a standard. They are essential components of school safety. As I mentioned in an article last year, custodians also have master keys. They can give these to responding law enforcement or help provide invaluable access after the threat has been addressed. Custodians can also assist with a trend that accelerated in the Spring: bomb threats. During such incidents, we need to be able to check for anything out of the ordinary. Custodial staff know what is out of the ordinary due to their regular duties. If a trash can has been moved closer to a building or a bulky bag is left in a hallway, the custodian can provide an early alert if they have been empowered by training. Finally, custodians may be the first to come across a wounded student. Has your custodial staff been trained in how to deal with traumatic blood loss? A custodian can access a bleeding control kit and begin critical care if they have received training. Each school building is now required to facilitate stop-the- bleed training for the school nurse or a school healthcare provider (or another staff member if these individuals are unavailable). This is the minimum required, but why limit this critical training to one person per school building? Consider training all staff in stop-the-bleed to compliment any training they have received relating to choking, CPR, AED use, etc. One way to train these critical skills is to conduct a “safety day” at the beginning of the school year and have a portion of the day directed to rotating stations-based training. This can be used for stop-the-bleed, reunification, two-way radio practice, mini-tabletop exercises, or any other perishable skills. If a safety day is conducted, ensure custodians are invited. Key takeaways: • Custodians should be a part of school safety training and drills. • Custodians are often the first to see or notice something out of the ordinary. • Custodians should be trained in how to use their two-way radios to provide real-time alerts. • A master key can help save lives. • Custodians should be trained in the skills that complement their encounters. • Stop-the-bleed training is an important training consideration for custodians. As always, thank you for what you do! Have a great Summer and reach out if we can assist in any way. Gym Floor Recoating Specialist For more information on responding to bomb threats, see the following: https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/resources/bomb-threat-guide Upcoming training by SEMA: https://sematraining.com/
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