Pioneer High School Maintenance
Pioneer High School opened in 1969. The building totals 232,645 square feet, which includes just over 100 classrooms, an 1,100-person auditorium, recently added state-of-the-art Performing Arts and Science wings, an Agriculture wing along with a 2,513-square foot barn, large capacity gymnasium and competitive swimming pool. The high school has seen multiple additions, starting in 1989 with the weight room and Athletic Director’s office, along with classroom space in the Agriculture wing. In 2007, the Agriculture barn was built just behind the high school. In 2014, the Science wing was added to the southwest side of the building. In 2015, the Performing Arts wing was added to the northwest side.
Wally Schiener, Pioneer class of ‘76, is the Head Custodian of the high school. Wally has been with the district since 1995 and he has been the Head Custodian since 1998. Assistant Head Custodian Bill Smith, with the district since 1999, and Custodian Rob James, with Pioneer since 1997, make up the day shift The second shift includes custodians Todd Thompson (’17, hired in 2022), and Joe Termer (’83, hired 2021).
The cleaners at the high school are supervised by Brandi Prichard. Brandi was hired by Pioneer in 2021 to oversee the district cleaning operations. Brandi came to Pioneer after four years as the Contract Manager for the ABM Cleaning company that was responsible for cleaning the high school. The cleaning crew includes Lee Osburn, Brody Osburn, Scott Shick, Julie Petit, Ron Killian (‘94), all hired by Pioneer in 2021. Rounding out the staff are Michelle Green (hired 2022) and Kimberly Mueller (hired 2023).
Wally Schiener oversees the daily operation of the high school maintenance department. Wally and the other building custodians have experience in multiple trades and are responsible for maintaining the physical heating and cooling plant as well as electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), carpentry, masonry, painting, and other building system repairs and maintenance. In addition, they help to coordinate and manage all the events the high school building plays host to throughout the year, including athletic events, music department events, FFA events, as well as numerous community events and activities.
The high school has a unique, highly efficient heating and cooling heat pump system that utilizes well water to add or reject heat from the main heat pump loop. There are multiple components that make up the heating and cooling physical plant. The main component of the heating plant for the winter months is a chiller with a plate heat exchanger used for transferring heat from the well water to the heat pump loop. There are four 750,000 BTU electric boilers to supplement the heat provided by the chiller. During the warmer months, a second heat exchanger and two cooling towers are used to transfer the heat from the heat pump loop. There are eight circulating pumps that are used to heat or cool the building.
The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is comprised of 61 heat pump units that provide heating and cooling to the classrooms, and 20 roof-top units that supply fresh air to standard classroom spaces. The classroom roof-top units are a dedicated system used to provide 100 percent outside (fresh) ventilation air, which is filtered and delivered to the classrooms. The larger spaces, such as the library, gymnasium, music rooms, and cafeteria have standalone rooftop units, (13 in total), that provide fresh air along with heating and cooling to the space. The air from the building is exhausted out and not circulated back through the roof top units. Exhaust fans and relief openings are utilized throughout the building to discharge the ventilation air and prevent over pressurization of the space.
The high school rarely rests. There are only 20 to 30 days per year that the high school is completely unoccupied. The high school maintenance department takes a great deal of pride in preparing and maintaining the facilities for students and the community to use throughout the year.