Grounds Department
The Pioneer Grounds Crew is responsible for maintaining 115 acres of District owned property. Kevin Drennan, Pioneer class of 1997, is the Grounds Crew Chief and has been with Pioneer since 2018. The grounds crew includes Motor Equipment Operator Troy Smith (hired 2022), and groundsmen Dustyn Pleace ('08, hired 2015), and Mike Gilbert ('75, hired 2022).
The grounds crew is responsible for maintaining Memorial Stadium, athletic fields, district lawns, parking lots, and sidewalks, along with tree maintenance and landscaping. They are also responsible for parking lot snow removal at Pioneer High School and Middle School including all the sidewalks.
The grounds crew and building custodians plow the equivalent of about eight road miles. Snow removal at the schools differs from road removal in that all the snow is moved twice. First, snow is plowed and then needs to be snowblown off the parking lots. The grounds crew also helps with snow removal at the elementary buildings. The grounds department is responsible spreading ice melt rock salt throughout the parking lots at all district locations. The Grounds Department also partners with the Town of Yorkshire, Town of Arcade and the Village of Arcade to clear sidewalks on County Line and Old Olean roads to ensure the sidewalks are safe for the walkers.
The grounds crew maintains a fleet of vehicles, including five Department of Transportation-inspected student transport vehicles, five plow trucks, a dump truck, the driver’s education car, the school resource officer (SRO)car, and the courier van, as well as over 20 tractors, trailers and snowblowers.
The grounds crew maintains the stadium as well as four grass soccer fields, two field grass hockey fields, two practice football fields, three softball fields, two baseball fields, the high school tennis courts and a variety of fields used by physical education and the community.