Litchfield School District added a new face to its staff on March 2 when Greg Robbins was hired as the district’s buildings and grounds director.
Robbins manages all the district’s custodial and maintenance and grounds people and trains them, he said. He has been in this line of work for about 34 years.
“I can do hands-on, anywhere from cleaning — I can show people the new cleaning techniques, bring new products, new equipment,” Robbins said, “and to help speed up productivity in the custodial maintenance department.”
Robbins’ position was created after the School Board and administrators agreed in early January to ease Business Manager Jesse Johnson’s workload and enhance the custodial operations.
“I do a lot of looking at new products and new ideas and bringing the most innovative stuff to our school district,” Robbins said. “So I keep my eyes and ears on the Minnesota Association of School Maintenance Supervisors. What they do there is they give me all the stuff that’s up and coming for all the new items.”
Aside from working with and overseeing the district’s custodial staff, Robbins works closely with Johnson in budgeting work, he said.
“I do anywhere from keeping the budgets under control for Johnson, too, so we don’t overspend,” Robbins said. “So that’s a very important job.”
Litchfield schools are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Robbins and his custodial staff continue to do deep cleaning work in classrooms, offices, pool room and other areas, he said.
Robbins and his staff recently have been working on renovating hallway floors of the district buildings, using a purple diamond pad to bring out a “nice deep gloss shine … on the floor final polishing,” he said.
Although schools could be closed until fall, the custodians will continue cleaning and ensuring all school equipment is sanitized, Robbins said.
Robbins started his career in Hutchinson Public Schools as a lead custodian and then a headman of the high school. He worked his way up to building and grounds director. He’s worked at Bemidji, Sauk Rapids, Elk River and Buffalo Lake-Hector public schools.
“And then this position opened up after I was (at Buffalo Lake-Hector) for about five months,” Robbins said. “So I applied for it. The reason why (I did) that was because it’s closer to my house (in Hutchinson). I just wanted to get my work closer to home, so I don’t have to travel so far.”
