A school district isn’t one property. It can be a few or a dozen or thirty, spread across a town, each with its own lot, its own playground, and its own head custodian who wants to know who’s showing up and when.

David J. Frank Landscape Contracting has maintained institutional and commercial properties across Wisconsin for more than 65 years. And for districts, the part we build around is simple: many sites, one point of contact.

Many buildings, one contract

Districts vary a lot. A small rural district might have an elementary school, a combined middle and high school, and a bus garage. A larger one runs a dozen elementary schools, several middle schools, a couple of high schools, and an administration building.

That’s why we start with a walk of every site, not just the flagship high school. The newest building and the 1950s elementary tucked into a neighborhood need very different things, and both go on the same contract.

Snow days start at 4:30 a.m.

Somebody in the district office is looking at the forecast at 4:30 in the morning, deciding whether to call school. Our snow and ice management crews are already moving by then, and the goal is buses and staff cars getting in safely whether school is on or off.

Here’s the thing about the sites: they’re cleared in an order that makes sense for that building. The elementary school with a single front entrance gets a different route than the high school with six doors and a stadium lot.

Ice melt goes down on the spots that refreeze after school lets out, so the 3:15 dismissal is safe, too.

Drop-off and pickup

Every school has a stretch of pavement that gets used by two hundred cars in forty minutes. Turf along the edge of that lane takes a beating, and so do the shrubs beside it.

So we plant tougher material along the loop and keep plants low enough that drivers and crossing guards can see over them. Lot islands get pruned for sight lines.

Snow storage gets picked in the fall, away from crosswalks and away from the young trees along the street.

Playgrounds and the space around them

Playgrounds need their own kind of attention. Our commercial maintenance crews check the areas around equipment for worn turf, bare patches, and drainage problems that leave a puddle under the swings for a week after rain.

Mulch and surfacing get topped off where they’ve thinned. Weeds get pulled from fall zones and fence lines, and the edges stay trimmed so a custodian isn’t out with a string trimmer before the bell.

Trees beside play areas get a closer look than trees out in the open lawn. Our certified arborists prune in winter dormancy, take out dead limbs over equipment and walkways, and flag anything with a cracked union. Removal is a last resort, and the facilities director hears about it first.

Front lawns and the entrance beds

The front of a school is what parents see at pickup, and it’s also what voters see when a referendum is on the ballot. Turf gets mowed on a fixed weekly schedule, and edges stay sharp along the walks and the sign.

The main entrance and the school sign get seasonal color. Pansies go in during spring, in time for open houses and graduation, and mums take over in fall. Districts that want to hold to a budget often start there, since it’s a small area with a big visual return.

Irrigation on school grounds gets set to run overnight, well before the first bus arrives. Zones are adjusted around the fields, the entrances, and the playground so nobody walks through spray.

Summer

Students are gone from June to late August, and that’s when the larger jobs get done. Turf renovation, irrigation repairs, and tree work near the buildings all go faster with empty lots.

And the last two weeks before the first day of school are the deadline for everything else. Mulch is fresh, walks are edged, and the front lawn is green.

Athletic fields are a separate program with their own schedule and standards, so they aren’t part of the general grounds contract.

Budgets, boards, and bids

Districts buy differently than a private property. Scope gets set, a bid goes out, a school board votes, and the contract runs for a fixed term. Pricing has to be clear enough that a business manager can defend it at a public meeting.

We write proposals with each building priced separately, so the district can see what every site costs and adjust scope from year to year. Multi-year agreements are available for districts that want steady pricing.

Referendum projects follow the same logic. Our design-build team takes a project from concept through installation, and our bid-build crews build to the architect’s plans. The landscape package for a new wing, a new parking lot, or an outdoor classroom can go either way.

Indoors, our interiorscape work is a smaller part of the district business. It shows up mostly in front offices, libraries, and district administration buildings.

Getting started

The first conversation is about the calendar and the map. The business office sends the list of buildings, the snow priorities, and the dates that matter, like the first day of school, graduation, and open houses.

Many districts already have a maintenance staff with a few mowers and a plow truck. That works well next to us. We cover the peaks, like the summer renovation push and the storms that outrun a small crew, and leave the daily routine to the people who know each building best.

Call us at 262-255-4888 or contact us online to plan your district’s next school year.