A strong scent of coffee hits you as you step into a room near rhe front lobby cluttered with work to be done. No, you aren’t stepping into the principal’s office. You’re entering the headquarters of the school’s work force: the custodian’s office. This fall, there is a new leader to the team, custodial engineer Frank Zapata.
    Prior to working as a custodial engineer, Mr. Zapata worked as an electrical engineer at Con Edison for 20 years. Due to rotating shifts and an inflexible schedule, he decided to work in high schools.
    “I have two children so I wanted to be home more often,” said Mr. Zapata. He also has licenses as a stationary engineer and refrigeration engineer. After switching jobs, he worked at Andres Hudde High School as a custodial engineer and transferred here this fall.
    “I have a good relationship with the principal and assistant principals, plus the benefits here are better so I decided to work at Midwood,” he said.
    Mr. Zapata is on the executive board of the Custodian Union. He is in charge of what custodial jobs have to be done and where in the school. A custodial engineer’s professional obligations include cleaning the school, running the building, and providing heat and hot water to make the school a clean and safe environment. He oversees how the building is maintained and hires workers who will carry out these tasks.
    “Every morning, my crew and I open the doors and turn on the heat,” Zapata said
    He prepares everything before the students enter the building. He also makes sure that the jobs left incomplete by the night crew are completed in the morning. Throughout the day, Mr. Zapata keeps the building clean and repairs toilets, fixes piping, deals with supplies, etc. He works until 4 p.m. and sometimes comes back during the night to work. Usually, the night crew takes over and cleans everything after the students are gone. He is also in charge of maintaining Midwood field.
The biggest problem for Mr. Zapata is the budget cuts. The budget allotted from the Department of Education affects the school’s maintenance. The more money schools are given, the bigger the room for improvements will be. With the budget cuts, only the more important maintenance problems are fixed first and the less dire problems are fixed later.
“Everything revolves around the budget,” said Mr. Zapata. “I can’t help the school stay clean and repair things if I don’t have enough money for the supplies to do so.”
    Mr. Zapata enjoys having this job because he likes to help people and loves the students and staff, who treat him well.
    “Midwood is another home,” he said. “We need input from all the students and staff in keeping our home clean.”
    For Mr. Zapata, the school is like a second family and he tackles on his job with pleasure.


“Happiness, for students as well as staff is my overall goal,” said Mr. Zapata. “I’m very glad to be here.”
(Bryttani Pestano ’13 contributed to this article).