Darlene Murrah is a custodian at Barack and Michelle Obama Academy (BAMO), an elementary school in Peoplestown.
Her love for cleaning started when she was a child.
“I come from a clean family,” she says, reflecting on the years that shaped her. “My mom, she was a clean lady, and she kept us clean… It was eight of us.”
Murrah’s upbringing is the bedrock of the work she does today. She loves the job, both because it scratches the impulse to keep things tidy and neat. And because it’s important for the students at BAMO. It keeps them clean, and it keeps them safe.
Murrah is one of about 170 Atlanta Public School (APS) custodians being recognized for this effort. The district included a one-time $1,000 bonus to their most recent paychecks.
“It came right on time for me,” says Murrah. “I moved to my new place about four weeks ago, and [there were] some things that I needed that, you know, didn’t have the funding… It was worked out when we got this bonus.”
The backing for this September bonus comes from the Biden administration’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
Though school custodians were supposed to get their bonus as part of state employee pay raises that Gov. Brian Kemp announced last May, custodians were not eligible in the state funding formula.
The governor then instructed the Georgia Department of Education to use federal funds instead. The following month, Georgia State Superintendent Richard Woods requested over $8 million from the federal government for this one-time bonus.
APS officials then applied for a share of that pot for custodians like Darlene Murrah.
This September was the last month that schools could access the Biden administration’s COVID relief money.
“Though oftentimes overlooked, school custodians play a vital role in the safety and well-being of students and employees,” says APS.
But district officials aren’t the only ones determined to show their appreciation coming out of the pandemic.
“If we spill something, she gives us all the stuff to clean up,” says Genevieve DeCriscio, a third grader at BAMO. “So we don’t have to be confused.”
“If you grow up and you didn’t learn how to clean, you think that someone’s going to do it for you, but you’re living by yourself, so like no one’s going to help you,” Genevieve continued. “You have to be old, and you have to be responsible.”
“So basically, Miss Darlene is teaching us a lesson on how to clean up,” adds Damarius Royal-Harris, a fifth grader at BAMO.
Damarious said “Miss Darlene’s” lesson is even more important, having lived through the pandemic.
“COVID was a really big setback to the world, but it also taught everybody a new lesson on how to be cleaner,” he said. “There’s no better place to learn than at a school.”
Note of disclosure: Atlanta Public Schools holds WABE’s broadcast license.
