Every day, Leonard Orellana and his fellow custodial engineers would arrive at work to open a local high school. He would turn on the boiler to keep the building warm and comfortable for the staff and possibly the students who came to fill it, check on the work of the team that had finished the evening, clean and disinfect the rooms in an attempt to keep the coronavirus at bay .

“We come to work every day, throughout the pandemic so far,” Orellana said.

It was not an easy job. In some cases, it seemed downright perilous, Orellana said. If people in the building got sick, it was up to the caretakers to clean it up — a task that was normal until the illness in question killed thousands of Americans every day, overwhelming hospitals and straining the medical infrastructure.

“My guys were like, ‘Hey, you know, what’s going on?’ and I would say, “We just have to be here and do our job,” Orellana said.

Orellana was initially hesitant to get vaccinated against the coronavirus – his children are grown, so there was little risk he would pass it on to family members. However, he lives with a roommate a little older than him and he worried about putting their health at risk by avoiding inoculation.

“Thousands and thousands of people are dying every day when this started, so I was like, I’m just going to get vaccinated too, because with my job and everything, I was going to get it. I would hate bring it home and cause a problem, so I decided to get it,” Orellana said.

He was glad he did. Everyone had a different experience getting the shot, but its side effects were very mild: a flash of heat through their body.

“So I was like, I think I need this photo,” Orellana said. “Anything it does to your body is more good than bad.”

Early in the pandemic, essential workers received heroic applause, but the science on how to protect them was far from settled. Now, at least, they’re getting masks, bottled water and other personal protective equipment as they work to keep the 1,500 students who now occupy the building almost daily safe.

For their efforts, the duty engineers received a $1,000 bonus, Orellana said. This did not seem to Orellana to be worth the risk he and his colleagues were taking.

“Risking your life for $1,000 isn’t really worth it,” Orellana said. Some people chose not to enter at all, but no one knows the building like Orellana. Because of this, he tries not to miss work if he doesn’t have to.

“If I can move, I will be there. If I can’t move, I might not be here,” he said. “People come to work and do what they need to.”

Still, he hopes the district will consider increasing salaries based on the risk.

Read the rest of the issue from December 15 to 21, 2021.