The Ultimate Guide to School Cleaning Services

Revision Date: October 24, 2023

Maintaining a clean and safe school environment for students and staff is a major responsibility. One of the biggest challenges school facilities managers face is sticking to a low facility operating budget. Finding the cleaning services and support required to ensure your school is well-maintained and functional calls for expertise that maximizes your budget. Value-added cleaning services allow you to meet your operational goals and stretch your budget to improve your facility.

Maintaining a clean and safe learning environment is crucial for schools to provide their students with the best possible education. However, it can be a challenging task to achieve without the right expertise and resources. This comprehensive guide aims to provide facilities managers with valuable insights on the best practices, industry trends, and how to choose the right vendor for their school's cleaning needs. By following the advice and recommendations presented in this guide, you can help ensure a conducive and safe learning environment for your students and staff. So, let's dive in!

Our comprehensive guide to maintaining a clean and safe school environment provides valuable insights on cleaning best practices with tips to help you choose the right vendor for the job.

Share this page:

Introduction to School Cleaning Services

School cleaning service providers understand the unique challenges of satisfying the needs of students, staff, and parents. Outsourcing cleaning duties to an experienced cleaning team allows facilities managers to tackle higher-value tasks focused on improvements, function, safety, and cost-effective major systems repairs. As a result:

• Your cleaning team ensures the spread of contaminants such as germs and bacteria are minimized to keep students, staff, and parents safe, and
• You deliver on the duties the community has entrusted you, fostering a caring, safe environment ideal for learning.

School cleaning services clean every aspect of your entire facility, including:

• Classrooms
• Labs
• Specialty rooms
• Restrooms
• School lockers
• Gyms
• Auditoriums
• Faculty offices and lounges
• Hallways and stairwells
• Libraries

The right school cleaning partners make meeting the high expectations of the school board, parents, and community easier.

Importance of Cleanliness in Schools

Clean school environments keep students and staff engaged. Clean facilities reduce the spread of illness, increasing student attendance and reducing staff sick days. As a result, students enjoy a higher level of education. Cleanliness contributes to improved learning experiences, with students receiving teachers' full attention. Improved attendance helps ensure your school provides equality in education and reduces the risk of student isolation. Overall wellness is also positively impacted by cleanliness, reducing airborne allergens that irritate allergy and asthma symptoms [1].

The community also benefits, as parents feel satisfied with their kids' education level. Everyone feels a sense of pride in attending a well-maintained school. Complaints are reduced from dissatisfied parents and teachers who feel unsafe in their work environment. Your school becomes a welcoming environment setting an example and encouraging students to become involved in maintaining school cleanliness for the good of their community.

Best Practices for Maintaining Cleanliness

School cleaning services manage routine cleaning, minimizing the effort required to maintain high cleaning standards. Daily cleaning best practices include:

• Using the proper cleaning supplies and equipment: Professional cleaners use the right cleaning products and tools to protect school equipment and surfaces from damage. Their cleaning products kill germs and bacteria yet keep school surfaces safe for children to touch. They also help prolong the life of school infrastructure, using the right cleaning tools to reduce wear and tear, protecting surfaces, and reducing replacement costs.
• Compliance: Cleaning companies keep up with federal and state regulations and follow industry-related cleaning protocols. They also understand safe handling for storing and using cleaning products and preventing cross-contamination throughout the school.
• Prioritizing high-touch surfaces: Ensuring all high-touch surfaces are cleaned reduces the spread of illness.
• Cleaning schedules: Cleaning schedules ensure recommended cleaning frequency is followed from surface to surface and area throughout the facility.
• Training: Adapting an intense training program on school cleaning best practices ensures students have a conducive environment. Training also follows proper cleaning protocols based on the area, cleaning products, and equipment required and teaches cleaners the importance of being thorough and consistent.

Choosing the Right Cleaning Company

The right cleaning company is essential to meet your cleaning standards. They will assess your needs and create a customized cleaning plan. Before forming a partnership with a cleaning company, you should research their reputation and evaluate their experience to ensure they are qualified with appropriate licenses, insurance, and certifications.

Comparing services and requesting a quote for the work helps maximize your budget while providing insights into the team's commitment to service and responsiveness. Finally, ask questions and do a "gut check" to ensure the team can deliver on their promises.

Innovative Technologies and Methods for Efficient Cleaning

Finding a school cleaning service that leverages technology and efficient cleaning methods ensures your facility is next-level clean. Engaged cleaning services remain one step ahead of cleaning advancements, researching new techniques and equipment and providing ongoing training for their team. This includes:

• Electrostatic Sprayers
• Robotics and Automation
• Green Cleaning Solutions
• Microfiber Technology
• UV-C Disinfection Systems [2]

Through ongoing education, cleaning services create knowledgeable teams that gain new efficiencies and reach higher standards of cleanliness.

Balancing Budget and Quality

Commercial cleaning services can save your school money [3], avoiding standard in-house cleaning hidden costs that eat into your budget. In addition, because professional cleaning services have expertise in school maintenance, they save money by evaluating your facility's needs and creating a cost-effective plan aligned with your priorities.

As a result, you can better allocate resources for maintenance and upgrades through the savings realized using a cleaning company that maximizes your budget. You also have more time as the facilities manager to explore cost-saving opportunities, such as:

• Identifying examples of over and under-spending to improve budget allocation
• Understanding where you tend to spend most of your budget each year to find opportunities for improvement
• Becoming more predictive by understanding what is likely to impact your operations budget, such as replacing cleaning equipment

Long-term Partnerships with Reliable Cleaning Vendors

Once you find the right cleaning company, you can benefit from your long-term partnership. Your relationship becomes more collaborative, establishing clear expectations and providing ongoing feedback to encourage improvement. With the same cleaning team, you can evaluate performance to address issues and continue to benefit from a mutually respectful relationship based on trust, transparency, and accountability.

Green Cleaning Practices for Schools

Green cleaning practices for schools develop safer cleaning practices while reducing operational costs [4]. It also creates a stronger community with students and staff pitching in. Green cleaning practices create sustainable classrooms, from paperless administration to recycling and lights-out policies to using energy-efficient cleaning equipment. Your school makes it clear you are committed to building a brighter future for students.

Trust Terran's Spic & Span for Comprehensive School Cleaning Solutions

At Terran's Spic & Span, we understand the importance of maintaining a clean and safe learning environment for students and staff. Our team of expert cleaning professionals is committed to providing comprehensive cleaning solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of your school.

Whether you require routine cleaning, specialized cleaning services, or innovative cleaning technologies, we have the expertise and resources to ensure your school is well-maintained and functional. Contact us today to learn more about our services and create a customized cleaning plan for your school.

Share this page: