Rotary Club of Oswego volunteers sanitized and disinfected Oswego-based School District 308’s school buses to get the fleet ready for the start of school last Wednesday, district officials announced.
The district welcomed students back for full in-person learning Aug. 18 with a safety plan that requires face masks and regulated cleaning measures in buildings and vehicles.
“As we know, consistently disinfecting high-touch surfaces helps to control the spread of many illnesses. Thoroughly cleaning and preparing our vehicles for the start of the school year is a big project, and we are so appreciative for the help from Rotary members and volunteers,” School District 308 Superintendent John Sparlin said.
Some 15 individuals over the course of three days cleaned approximately 142 District 308 buses for the start of the school year.
The local Rotary Club is part of an international service organization that encourages business and professional leaders to work together to provide humanitarian service around the world, club members said.
With the pandemic restricting service-related projects, the club has committed to engaging in a community-based service project per quarter, with the cleaning and disinfecting of the School District 308 school buses being one of those, district officials said.
The volunteers included Rotary Club members and their family members and four members of the Oswego Police Department including Police Chief Jeff Burgner, Deputy Chiefs Brad Delphey and Kevin Norwood and Police Cmdr. Jason Bastin, as well as Paul Gilbert from Metronet, district officials said.
The volunteers took shifts to spray down buses and wipe surfaces, using a spray disinfectant cleaner donated by AutoSmart Inc., an auto dealer in Oswego.
“One of my goals for our Rotary club this year is doing at least one service project per quarter,” said Brian Caldwell, Oswego Rotary Club president and CEO and co-founder of AutoSmart.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.