When Mike Taylor heard that in-person learning was going to take place in the Schodack Central School District, he immediately wanted to help make sure that all students and staff were safe when they returned to classrooms this fall.
Taylor has children in the district and is a long-time member of the community. He also owns Environmental Surface Solutions (ESS), a company that specializes in disinfecting and protecting against a broad spectrum of pathogens, including COVID-19.
“The Schodack Central School District is such a vibrant community with school spirit that is second to none,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that our community is environmentally safe and wanted our parents, students and teachers to return to school with confidence that we have done everything we can to make sure that they are safe.”
Taylor and a crew of 12 employees spent seven hours in the high school and elementary school, sanitizing anything and everything.
“We went in and identified contamination levels before spraying,” he said. “We deployed an electrostatic chlorine dioxide, nondiscriminatory eliminator which envelops the space and deactivates viruses, mold, mildew and bacteria of any sort.”
Taylor has been involved in this field since 2011, starting out working with athletic training facilities, helping to battle against staph infections. The parent company to ESS has worked with the Golden State Warriors, Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, the New York Knicks, and Chase Bank, among others.
Eventually, the company began working with school districts and other businesses. ESS has a disinfecting contract with Rensselaer County.
While the process is complex, Taylor explains it as similar to “a magnet drawn to metal. We’re positively charging atoms which are seeking a ground. It wraps around all of the high touch areas that may be missed by a mop, rag or pump sprayer. Our spray acts as a bug zapper in between normal cleans, killing a virus on contact.”
Taylor noted that his spray has been tested by the Rensselaer County Department of Health and is safe to go on food surface areas, as well, and that it identifies, eradicates, and protects.
Taylor and his crew did the treatment prior to the start of school at no cost to Schodack CSD. Typically treating a space that large would cost in excess of $60,000.
