The Buildings and Grounds Department is responsible for the management of the facilities and grounds of Cambridge-Isanti Schools.  The management areas that are impacted include Crisis Management, Short Term Management, and Long Term Management. The mission of Cambridge-Isanti Public Schools Building and Grounds Department is to provide students, staff and community members with quality facilities that function smoothly and are clean, attractive, pleasant, welcoming and safe.

Building Security

Security of the district’s facilities along with the safety of students, adults and staff are a focus of the school district. Measures are taken to provide a safe and secure environment for our students to learn.

The district has invested in technology and programs to assist with safeguarding our students as well as district owned property including:

• Anti-bullying Programs—reinforce acceptable behaviors and provide training to students with resources and information to help report bullying and foster respect for others.
• Office Visitor Management System 
• Upgraded locks/hardware with secure keys that are not able to be duplicated at the local hardware store
• Card access system has been added to key points of entry at nearly every facility 
• CCTV camera systems that assist school resource officers by recording events that can be recovered via a digital recorder.
• School Resource Officers – a cooperative program between the cities of Cambridge and Isanti. 
• Security alarms—assist with monitoring schools 24-7 to protect the facilities from unlawful entry.

Providing a safe and secure environment for students while receiving an education is of utmost importance to District 911.

Community Relations

The Building and Grounds Department strives to communicate with the community concerning:
• Construction Planning Focus and task force groups
• Levels of satisfaction for services provided by the Building and Grounds Department
• Building and Grounds web pages on the school district web site
• Community Education use of the school district facilities in a typical year

The facilities are used by the community almost every day of the week 1600+ building permits are issued estimating 500,000 people using the facilities 150+ outdoor permits are issued in estimating 20,000 people using the outdoor facilities.  

Emergency Preparedness

The school district is continuing its efforts on an ongoing basis to review and update emergency preparedness planning district wide. A district committee made up of administrators, nursing staff, local first responders along with input from a health and safety consultant has been meeting regularly to review and update emergency procedures. Training is given for organizational understanding to administrators so that they can conduct training in their respective buildings/departments.

The plans contain the following elements:
Formal plan—including details for all emergencies will be available in the district office and at each facility site. Included are:

• Emergency contact numbers—for local first responder agencies, utility company emergency numbers, and district representative emergency numbers have been developed and will be included.
• Universal Procedures for: Building Security, Evacuation/Relocation, Incident Command System, Lockdown, Media Inquiries, Student Release/Reunification
• Emergency Procedures for:  Assault, Bomb Threat, Bus Accidents, Child Abuse, Fights/disturbances, Fire, Medical Emergency, Severe Weather, Crisis to student, Building Utility Emergencies, Weapons

 Quick Reference Flipcharts which contain “at a glance” information for employees and are issued to employees for their awareness and training

Management

Energy Management: C-I Schools works diligently to reduce energy consumption through behavioral and operational methods.  Behavioral methods include: turning off lights when leaving a room, turning off computer monitors when finished, shutting down electronics at night and more.  Some of the operational methods of energy management include turning down thermostats 2 degrees in the wing and up 2 degrees in the summer, being more efficient in operating each building, controlling equipment, upgrading to more efficient lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment and more.

Personnel Management: The C-I Schools Buildings and Grounds Department consists of the Director, Building Head Custodians, Night Lead Custodians, Evening Custodians, Weekend/Security Custodians, and Maintenance Specilist.

Construction Project Management:  Cambridge Isanti Public Schools utilize a continuous improvement approach to provide facilities that are high quality, clean, efficient, fiscally responsible, that comply with local, state and federal codes and economize district resources. To learn more visit the Construction Management document linked in the Quick Links section.

Regulatory Compliance Management: Cambridge Isanti Public Schools is committed to have schools that meet compliance standards. The district has had an active Health and Safety committee dating back to 1996. For more information regarding the Health and Safety Committee, see our district website home page under health and safety. To learn more visit the Regulatory Compliance document listed in the Quick Links section.

Space Management: Cambridge Isanti Public Schools contains 249 acres of land and 992,600 square feet of building space.  To learn more visit the Space Management document listed in the Quick Links section.