Facilities and Operations

Division of Facilities and Operations and Other Departments

The Operational Services Division of Pinellas County Schools is housed at the Walter Pownall Service Center (WPSC) at 11111 South Belcher Road, Largo, FL, 33773.

Operational Services is comprised of the following departments: Building Operations, Central Printing, District Threat Assessment Team, Emergency Management, Energy Management, Facilities, Design & Construction, Food & Nutrition, Maintenance, Real Estate and Leasing, School Safety, Schools Police, Transportation and Warehousing.  Also housed at the Walter Pownall Service Center is the Instructional Materials Department (a satellite office of Teaching and Learning), which is not under the management of Operational Services.

Central Printing Services 
Mike Domke, Coordinator 
Central Printing Services is comprised of the Print Shop, the Multi-Function Device (MFD) managed print program, the Administration Building Mailroom, and the inter-office “Pony” mail system. The print shop is self-funded and works with schools and district departments to ensure that the district’s printing needs are addressed in a cost-effective manner. The district’s managed print program allows staff to print and make copies at their school or workstation.  The Pony mail system consists of two drivers that deliver the necessary inter-office correspondence to schools and district offices. The Administration Mailroom sorts incoming U.S. mail and meters outgoing U.S. mail. The mailroom also tracks and delivers smaller incoming FedEx, UPS and Amazon packages for the various departments in the Administration Building. Central Printing is housed in the district administration building. Visit Central Printing Services webpage

 

Fire Marshal 
Alison Shanabrook, Fire Marshal
The Fire Marshal performs technical fire prevention and inspection services. Responsibilities include enforcing the State Requirements for Educational Facilities as well as the Florida Building Code, Life Safety Code, and Prevention Code. The Fire Marshal also manages the district’s Fire, Health and Safety (FHS) program and oversees fire, casualty and sanitation inspections of buildings.

 

Food and Nutrition Department
Karen Oruwariye, Director 
The Food and Nutrition Department and its over 800 employees provide well-balanced and nutritious meals for students and staff throughout the year.  The department serves lunches, a la carte lunches, breakfasts and snacks each day using menus that are planned and coordinated using U.S.D.A. Dietary Guidelines.  The department is self-supporting and receives no funding from the district. Visit Food and Nutrition Department webpage

 

Maintenance
Mike Hewett, Director 
The Maintenance Department employs trades personnel who repair facilities and maintain equipment, buildings and sites throughout the district.  The department responds to service requests which are submitted electronically by designated people at each school or district site.  Requests for service include carpentry, plumbing, electrical, technology, roofing, carpet maintenance, pest control, turf/grounds maintenance, heating/ventilation and air conditioning and painting. This department is also responsible for maintaining the grounds of each board-owned property and the relocation of portable classrooms throughout the district. Visit Maintenance webpage

 

Facilities Design & Construction (FD&C)
Doug Pollei, Director 
The Facilities Design & Construction department is responsible for the management of the design and construction of the district’s educational and ancillary facilities. Staff members perform plan reviews resulting in the issuance of building permits and provide compliance inspections through the construction process. The department assists in the development of the district’s facility assessments, capital improvement plan and project budgeting. Staff also perform annual fire, health and safety inspections at district facilities. 

Staff includes registered architects, licensed engineers, certified construction inspectors and a building official, all of which enable FD&C to act as its own building department independent of municipal or local building departments in compliance with Florida Statutes. Visit Facilities Design & Construction (FD&C) webpage

 

Pinellas County Schools Police
Luke Williams, Chief of Schools Police 
The Pinellas County Schools Police Department is a fully certified law enforcement agency and consists of the Chief of Police, a Police Major, five sergeants, 30 sworn law enforcement officers, including two K-9 handlers. The K-9 officers and their canine partners specialize in both drug and gun detection. In addition, the department is further comprised of a threat assessment officer, an officer assigned to the Office of Professional Standards and over 100 School Security Officers (SSOs), 45 Campus Activities Monitors (CAMs) and 11 civilian support personnel, including seven communication center employees and a communications center supervisor. The department’s emergency communications center provides 24-hour coverage of all district facilities. The communication center monitors intrusion, fire, and other alarms; door access and active safety technology systems deployed district-wide to our 150 schools and support facilities. 

 

The department provides law enforcement services to the school district, security at school board meetings and coordinates with each local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction in Pinellas County to ensure all laws and best practices are followed to keep our campuses and other board-owned facilities safe. This includes ensuring each school has an armed school resource officer or deputy, SSO, or guardian on each of our campuses when school is in session with the assistance of local law enforcement. Positive interactions and regular mentoring sessions with our students are a staple of the Schools Police Department.  Visit Pinellas County Schools Police webpage

 

Real Estate Department
Lutricia Johnson, Real Estate Analyst
Kelly Fasce, Real Estate Leasing Analyst 
The Real Estate Department manages site-related issues for all Board-owned facilities and real property buildings. The district’s nearly 150 facilities and land holdings equal approximately 2600 acres, making PCS the largest landowner in Pinellas County. The department works closely with local municipalities to enact and enforce easements, rights-of-way, vacations and site-records management. The department also manages long-term land and facility-use agreements and short-term facility leases. Visit Real Estate and Facility Leasing webpage

 

Transportation
TMark Hagewood, Director 
The Transportation Department is responsible for transporting 25,000 Pinellas County students to and from school each day.  Pinellas County school buses travel over 20,000 miles each day and also transport students on about 3,000 field and athletic trips yearly. The PCS transportation department has five bus compounds, each staffed with a compound manager and field operations supervisors to support the school bus drivers, bus assistants, parents and students.  The dispatch operations center consists of 10 dispatchers and is open each day. Classes are in session from 3:30am to 6:30pm. Visit Transportation Department webpage

 

Vehicle Maintenance
Brian Lowe, Vehicle Maintenance Specialist
The Vehicle Maintenance department maintains over 1,200 vehicles, five garages and one bodyshop. The staff includes journeyman mechanics, lead mechanics, and garage foreman, all who are DOE certified School Bus Safety Inspectors. Mechanics are available for road service and are on call whenever a PCS bus is on the road. Other services include a bodyshop for paint and body work, and an upholstery / glazier department for upholstery and glass work for all district-owned vehicles. 

 

Warehousing
Twenty-seven full-time warehouse employees are devoted to providing supplies and services that benefit all district staff and students.  Volume purchases and centralized storage and distribution result in major cost savings for the school district. 
Some of the supplies that are filled and delivered daily to schools include:
art supplies, office and computer supplies, floor care products, audio visual supplies, custodial and cleaning supplies, small cafeteria equipment, furniture, classroom supplies, first aid supplies, electrical supplies and tools, and physical education equipment.
Other services include: coordinating the disposal of all surplus/obsolete equipment through public auctions, recycling, redistributing surplus furniture, distributing all testing materials, student records transfer, monitoring the inventory and fueling functions of approximately 1,200 vehicles. 
The warehouse partners with the Food and Nutrition department to receive, store, and deliver all frozen, refrigerated, and dry foods and staples for the federal school lunch program. Visit Warehousing webpage