Maintenance & Operations

Department Phone (707) 778-4636

Mission Statement

Petaluma City Schools Maintenance and Operations Department works to provide facilities and environments that are safe, comfortable, efficient, and conducive to optimal learning. We dedicate ourselves to providing professional services that repair, maintain, and modernize educational, athletic, and grounds facilities for students, staff, and community members.

Maintenance & Operations Department

The Maintenance & Operations Department is responsible for maintaining the grounds, general maintenance and repairs of all District-owned properties, as well as overseeing the custodial staff at these sites. Our facilities are made up of 12 school sites and 4 support sites. It is our goal to provide safe, healthy and comfortable educational environments for our students, staff, and the community. 

Our Team

The maintenance and grounds team is comprised of a Director, Custodial Coordinator, Maintenance Coordinator, Secretaries, and seven Maintenance Specialists with experience in carpentry, electrical, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing, mechanical repairs, and general building maintenance. In addition, there are seven groundskeepers who maintain our fields, ornamental lawns, light tree trimming and all other general grounds work.  Our maintenance team is committed to keeping the District facilities in excellent condition.

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Mitch Samios, In Memory

 (May 20, 1948 – February 4, 2023)

It is with a great deal of sadness that we announce the passing of Michell “Mitch” Samios who was the PCS Journeyman Locksmith “retired”.  Mitch worked for Petaluma City Schools for over 38 years in various roles.  He started out as the Head Custodian at McNear Elementary.  He was then hired into the Maintenance Department as the Journeyman Locksmith.  In addition to being a master locksmith, he was known for his painting expertise and he was exceptionally skilled at cutting down large trees that were a safety concern, had fallen on a building or two, or were a fire hazard due to disease or drought.  

Mitch was not only an essential member of the maintenance team, he was a friend, a mentor, a big brother, and a father figure to many of the maintenance and grounds crew over the years.  He worked with the less experienced team members to develop not only solid maintenance skills, but also life skills.  He helped them not only with their professional experiences, but also helped many of them to know how to deal with personal life challenges. He was known as a “good listener”.

He was a wealth of knowledge and was well respected by many people in the District.  Several school staff members have commented on how personable and how willing he was to jump in to assist whenever he was on campus.  Throughout his 38 years, he touched the lives of countless staff and worked diligently every day to ensure our campuses were safe for our students.  Even after retirement, he continued to support the department by working part time for the past 2 years.

Mitch was a very private person, and in fact, no one really knew how old he was.  All he would say is that he was born sometime in the summer. He did not want to celebrate his birthdays as he was more interested in celebrating other people’s successes.  He was also a huge animal lover and was drawn to dogs in particular.  He was known for saying “Ain’t nothing like a good dog”!  He had a very dry sense of humor but laughed easily and he loved chocolate chip cookies and coffee!  He was a gentleman and a really good man!  He will be truly missed!