The Clean-up Crew: East Building Manager Dale Clark responds to new COVID-19 protocol

How can 200 desks be cleaned in five minutes between lunch periods? How can every class be arranged so students sit six feet apart? Where can East store the hundreds of extra desks not being used? While most students never considered these scenarios, these are the daunting questions East Building Manager Dale Clark has been tasked with answering. 

Since East has the most hybrid students out of all the high schools in the district, Clark was faced with the challenge of organizing the cafeteria in order to maintain social distancing and effective cleaning measures, while still providing a chance for students to socialize during their lunches. 

Clark has become an unspoken hero in the East community. His job of overseeing building maintenance has been heavily influenced by the increased need for updated cleaning protocol. Whether it’s disinfecting door handles or reorganizing furniture for social distancing, Clark has remained committed to executing his responsibilities and solving any challenge that comes along. 

“With COVID [my job has] changed tremendously,” Clark said. “It’s a little more sanitizing, disinfecting and setting things up for social distancing. As you look around the school there’s dots and signs — I put all those things up to make sure everybody’s aware and doing things safely. It’s changed a lot.”

In preparation for hybrid learning, Clark arranged desks in each classroom to isolate students — moving surplus desks from the fifth floor to the basement. After mastering the ideal classroom setup, Clark still had to solve his biggest challenge: the cafeteria, where hundreds of students would congregate together.

According to East Associate Principal Susan Leonard, while Clark was calculating the best way to arrange seating in the cafeteria, he wanted to keep in mind the social aspect that comes with lunch so allow students to still have conversations with each other while eating. Prioritizing what he knew the students would value, Clark intentionally created four-person quads so students could see their friends during lunch. 

“I think people don’t realize the kind of math and geometry a facilities manager has to deal with because when you’re moving items and dealing with furniture arrangements it’s just a lot of real-life geometry,” Leonard said. “He somehow figured out how to get desks in rows, and what I really love, is not only did he do that as he’s figuring out this crazy math problem of surface area and tables and putting in protocol, he’s also worried about [what students want].”

Clark’s focus on giving students something to look forward to worked. Freshman Gregor Wiedeman agrees that being in pods for lunch helps him interact with his friends he isn’t able to talk to during classes.

“Coming to school and being able to see my friends and talk to them is one of the best things I get to do during the day, even if we’re separated,” Wiedeman said. “I like the idea of doing quads for seating because while we’re still distanced, I can still enjoy lunch [and] seeing my friends.”

Another one of Clark’s accomplishments was his plan of action for cleaning the cafeteria between lunch periods. Clark took the creative route and instead of using paper towels to individually wipe each table, he shortened the handles of mops to make them “hand-held” and divided the eight helpers into four teams as a “sprayer” and “wiper.” According to Leonard, Clark is committed to exceeding the expectations of each task he deals with — from hauling desks from English classrooms to the basement to fixing plumbing.

“[Clark]’s able to see this big daunting task, break it into parts and calmly move forward,” Leonard said. “He was such a leader and innovator in figuring out how to do this, all the while how to keep [students] safe, but also to salvage any parts that we could of the social hour because lunch is so important.”

While Clark’s cafeteria cleaning technique has impressed all other SMSD schools causing them to implement the system in their own building according to Leonard, his position and character reach far beyond his innovative system. Clark prioritizes the building. When there’s a sewage problem at 8 p.m. at a boy’s basketball game, he’s already on the phone — even though it’s the nighttime janitor’s responsibility.

Working with Clark, Leonard said she’s seen his nonstop work behind the scenes most people don’t realize, and believes he’s not only successful in maintaining the building, but also in creating a positive work environment for his team.

“He’s just a tremendous leader, so I think he’s excelled in creating a positive culture that has helped him get the very most out of his crew and the very most out of people like me who are not technically a part of his crew, but have to pitch in this year of course in ways we haven’t before to make sure things get done,” Leonard said. “I’d do anything he told me because he just has a natural gift for that, you just want to follow him. He’s a great leader.”