DAY CUSTODIAN: ISIDRO GONCALVES

Goncalves’ commute was cut in half. 

Previously travelling for nearly two hours, it now takes Goncalves approximately 50 minutes to drive from Livermore to MVHS, largely due to more people working from home and, subsequently, less traffic.

“The other thing positive for me is that I’m still healthy,” Goncalves said. “And I have my job the whole time, I have my check every month to pay my bills and to do my life. A lot of people have lost their jobs, so I’m considered a lucky one when it comes to that. So I look at it that way. Some people probably don’t, but I do. I’m old so I guess that’s why I look at it that way.”

Goncalves is the custodian on day crew, and the other members of his crew include the groundskeeper, who takes care of the gardening and grounds; the pool and grounds manager, who does a similar job as the groundskeeper but also manages the pool; the site technician; and the supervisor. They switch off later in the day when the night crew, which has five members, takes over. Both the day crew and the night crew continue to work at MVHS every day, despite it running on a distance learning model.

A typical day for Goncalves used to consist of cleaning the school bathrooms, emptying garbage from the kitchens, picking up soaps and other supplies from warehouses, cleaning the Student Union after brunches and lunches and cleaning places around campus like the rally court, all while being on call if teachers or students needed assistance throughout the day. 

“Now it’s different because [students] are not here, but I do have to check the bathrooms, and we are also cleaning doors now,” Goncalves said. “I even have some of the other guys, the groundskeepers, helping me to clean a bunch of doors. [Because of] the teachers who are coming in here, we have to clean the doors twice a day. Lately, I have some guys who work here with me, they have days off because of this pandemic, but I don’t have that. I’ve been here every day, and I kind of help them out, the groundskeepers, clearing the leaves, trying to keep the school clean. And today, they needed paper in the office, so I do whatever they need, but of course it’s a little different than before.”

Goncalves has been working at MVHS for nine and a half years now — December will mark a decade, which is when he plans to retire.

“I hope you guys come back and you guys graduate here on the school,” Goncalves said. “It’ll be nice for everybody, especially since you guys get to do something you only do one time in your lifetime, it’s not something you can put back, do later. I’m almost sure I’ll see you all before I retire, because that’ll be too long, that’ll be crazy. This thing is gonna get better and you guys will come back before I retire for sure. I have my hopes up on that one. It’s been too long and it’s been almost a year. Too long.”