West Ottawa Public Schools are located in Holland, Michigan, a scenic community on the Lake Michigan shore. West Ottowa has an enrollment of 8,090 students housed in 13 buildings including two high school, two middle schools, and nine elementary schools. The school district covers 1.6 million square feet of buildings on 420 acres of land, maintained by a staff of 39 custodians, six maintenance people, and five grounds people.

Gary Brezinski has been the Director of Buildings and Grounds at West Ottawa for the past 21 years.

Like many school districts in Michigan, Brezinski transitioned from traditional zone cleaning to Team Cleaning as a response to tough economic realities. Thirteen years ago, Gary was asked to reduce his staff by 25 percent. His boss gave him an ultimatum: “Get it done or I’ll find someone who can.”

“I was doing this poor, pitiful me thing, but I knew I had to take action,” Gary said. “That same year, I attended the Cleaning Management Conference in California with my wife. We did Disneyland at night and attended classes during the day. That’s where I learned about Team Cleaning and backpack vacuums. I haven’t looked back since.”

During the transition to Team Cleaning Gary inspired and supported his custodians by working directly with them and listening to their feedback. “I would do things a little different this time around,” Gary said. Gary offers tips for making the transition to Team Cleaning run smoothly:

Train your custodians on the specifics of Team Cleaning, not just the general idea.

Bring in someone from the outside to address the staff about Team Cleaning. If you can, send them to a class.

Expect people to fight the change. Be patient. It’s not going to happen overnight.
Be there to support your people. Be a cheerleader, and make them feel good about what they are doing.

Be careful to guide the process and try not to control it. Get personally involved in the implementation.

Provide the right equipment and chemicals for your custodians so they can do their job.

Communicate with the teaching staff.

Share your success with other school districts. It makes your team proud when other people and school districts are interested in what they are doing. Also learn what other districts are doing to clean better and save money.

Institute a clean-up rule that is supported by the school administration and the teachers. (“West Ottawa has a 30-second rule. Gary said. “It reads: ‘At the end of the school day, all students will pick up and dispose of all paper and trash on the floor around their desk. Stack all chairs. Books, shoes, etc., should be kept in lockers.’ Some of the rooms look like no one has used them.”)

“My schools are cleaner now than they have ever been, and we are doing it with less people,” Gary says. “West Ottawa has also saved money on equipment and decreased carpel tunnel syndrome with the use of backpack vacuums.” Gary says that 90% of the custodians at West Ottawa like the Team Cleaning system. He believes that it is an easier way for his staff to work. The trick is to make your custodian understand that they need to take ownership of the entire building, not just their area.”

Self preservation may be the best reason to go to Team Cleaning. “I don’t want my custodians or myself to be outsourced,” Gary said. “You can have clean buildings, and save money using a Team Cleaning system. A neighboring school district went to Team Cleaning and I believe that it saved their jobs. If you haven’t at least considered Team Cleaning you aren’t being fair to your people.”

Team Cleaning at the West Ottawa School District works so well because Gary Brezinski is a good coach on a good team. He is a “people person” who doesn’t mind working side by side with his custodians to make sure that they get the results that they need. “People are my best asset,” he said. “I get hugs and handshakes every day.”