GROUNDS WORKER

Location Type: On-site

 

About the Employer

In Glendale Unified schools, we focus on maximizing student achievement, fostering students’ social and emotional growth, and creating a vibrant, inclusive environment where all children can learn and thrive. Glendale Unified is the third largest school district in Los Angeles County. We proudly serve 25,000 students in preschool through 12th grade and beyond.

We proudly offer dual immersion programs in seven languages; Armenian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. Glendale Unified also offers six magnet schools focused on technology, world languages, and visual and performing arts, and a wide variety of Career and Technical Education pathways beginning in middle school. Through a collaborative partnership with Glendale Community College, Glendale Unified offers students multiple opportunities to earn college credit before they graduate from high school, including our Hoover Early College Academy and Glendale High Cloud Computing and Computer Science Academy. We are excelling together to provide our students with endless pathways for success! Several of our schools are recipients of prestigious awards such as: National Blue Ribbon Schools, California Distinguished Schools, California Gold Ribbon Schools, and Title I Academic Achieving Schools.

Glendale Unified is a diverse school district that welcomes students and families from all over the world. Our students come from a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds and speak 35 different languages.

Job Summary

Performs a wide variety of skilled landscape maintenance tasks, including tree pruning and minor irrigation system maintenance, repair, and installation.

Job Description / Essential Elements:

GLENDALE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CLASS DESCRIPTION

GROUNDS WORKER

DEFINITION

Performs a wide variety of skilled landscape maintenance tasks, including tree pruning and minor irrigation system maintenance, repair, and installation.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

A Grounds Worker performs skilled landscape maintenance work.

A Grounds Supervisor plans, coordinates, supervises and manages the grounds maintenance activities of the District.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED AND EXERCISED

General supervision is provided by the Grounds Supervisor.

Assignments may require the functional supervision of other grounds maintenance positions.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

Maintains assigned landscaped areas, sweeps lawns, sidewalks and related areas, and rakes leaves.

Maintains landscape beds keeping them weed and debris free.

Sprays trees with various chemicals at the direction of supervisory personnel.

Maintains turf areas by mowing, edging, fertilizing, spraying, aerating, and watering.

Installs and cultivates trees, grass, flowers, and shrubs.

Prepares soils for various kinds of planting.

Operates power lawn mowers and other landscape maintenance related power equipment.

Assists in the installation, repair, and maintenance of irrigation systems.

Prepares stadium and field areas for athletic games and cleans and repairs fields and facilities.

Empties trash containers and otherwise maintains the appearance of grounds areas.

Moves and arranges furniture and equipment for special events.

Performs related work as required.

CLASS QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge of:

Methods, materials, and equipment used in propagating, cultivating, pruning, and caring for plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, and lawns.

The identification growth habits, and fertilizing requirements of common shrubs, flowers, trees, and various turf grasses.

Pesticides and their usage including various types of pre- and post-emergent herbicides, various insecticides, rodenticides, etc.

Plant growth regulators and appropriate usage.

Seasonal requirements of the landscape calendar including fertilizing, pruning, spraying, plant growth regulators, pre- and post-emergents, disease control practices, turf renovation, various annual color seasons, etc.

Common landscaping and gardening tools and equipment.

Safe work practices and personal safety gear.

Ability to:

Perform skilled landscape maintenance work including tree pruning and irrigation system installation and repair.

Feed and care for trees by spraying chemicals.

Demonstrate natural and selective shrub pruning techniques and standards.

Design, estimate, and lay out an annual color bed with respect to soil, weather conditions, exposure, etc.

Assess problematic turf areas, troubleshoot, and make recommendations to improve condition.

Manage irrigation systems including programming of the controller, installation of the system, repair, routine maintenance, and troubleshoot problems.

Use and care for gardening hand and power tools.

Prioritize tasks to maximize operational efficiency including managing route schedule with respect to logistical considerations and prioritizing jobs as the service requirements change.

Be insured at standard vehicle liability and property damage insurance rates and maintain insurability.

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

High School diploma or general education degree (GED).

Experience:

One year of experience in gardening, nursery, or landscape maintenance work.

Desirable:

Written and oral proficiency in a second language.

LICENSE OR CERTIFICATE

Possession of a valid State of California Class C driver’s license. Ability to be insured at standard vehicle liability and property damage insurance rates and maintain insurability.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Physical Demands:

Employees in this classification must be physically and mentally able to perform the essential duties of the position without hazard to themselves or others. These include but are not limited to:

Standing and walking for extended periods of time. Sitting, kneeling, stooping, crouching, and bending at the waist.

Lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling objects generally weighing up to sixty (60) pounds.

Agility to move arms in all directions; dexterity of hands and fingers to equipment and related tools.

Seeing to read a variety of materials, hearing, and speaking to exchange information.

Walking over rough and uneven surfaces such as athletic fields, turf, yards, construction areas and other outdoor areas.

Driving a vehicle fbetween work sites, within, or outside the district to conduct work or training.

Working Environment:

Employees in this classification primarily work outdoors. Work environment generally

includes exposure to weather conditions and temperature variations, sharp objects, dust, chemicals, odors, machinery with moving parts, and moving vehicles. Noise level can be moderate to high.

Contact will be required with District staff and the public.

Work Schedule:

Incumbent will be required to work an irregular schedule with occasional overtime. This may include working days, nights, weekends, holidays, and a shifting workweek of five (5) consecutive days.

05/21/1980 – Classification established by Personnel Commission.

06/03/1987 – Revision: Insurability.

05/15/2000 – Revisions and change in minimum requirements.

06/13/2017 – Minor Revision to Employment Standards.

12/18/2017 – Revision to Title and Class Description.

Requirements / Qualifications

Comments and Other Information

Prior to employment, a candidate must submit proof of freedom from tuberculosis. Also required after an offer of employment are a pre-employment physical exam (district-paid) and fingerprint clearance with the Department of Justice.
Statement of Non-discrimination (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973): The Board of Education is committed to equal opportunity for all individuals in education. District programs, activities and services shall be free from unlawful discrimination, harassment (including sexual harassment), intimidation, and/or bullying based on actual or perceived sex, race or ethnicity, color, national origin, nationality, religion, age, sexual orientation, sexual preference, ancestry, ethnic group identification, gender, gender expression, gender identity, physical or mental disability, marital or parental status, or on the basis of a person’s association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or sexual harassment in any district service, program and/or activity that receives or benefits from state financial assistance. The Board shall promote programs which ensure that unlawful discriminatory practices are eliminated in all district activities. The District will take steps to assure that the lack of English will not be a barrier to admission and participation in district programs. A copy of the District’s Uniform Complaint Policy is available by calling (818) 241-3111, Ext. 1457. Complaints alleging noncompliance with this policy of nondiscrimination should be directed to the following personnel:
Title IX Coordinator: Dr. Kelly King, 223 N. Jackson St., (818) 241-3111, Ext. 1209, titleix@gusd.net
Section 504 Coordinator: Dr. Narineh Khemichian, 223 North Jackson, (818) 241-3111, Ext. 1500, nkhemichian@gusd.net
Title II/ADA: Dr. Kelly King, 223 N. Jackson St., (818) 241-3111, Ext. 1209, kking@gusd.net