Van Le: Epitome Of Perseverance

Van Le continues to work with his staff and encourages them to take ownership in the work they do.

Van Le, Supervisor of Custodial Services
Community Consolidated School District 15 Palatine, Illinois

After spending a year in a Vietnamese refugee camp and seven days at sea, Van Le arrived in the United States without any family or command of the English language. The odds were against him, but Le’s tenacious spirit and strong work ethic kicked into overdrive, systematically removing any obstacles to his success.

Le went to school to learn English and worked in a factory as a machine operator. In 1988, he got his lucky break when he was hired as a night custodian for Community Consolidated School District 15 Palatine, the third largest elementary district in Illinois.

From the get-go, Le’s appetite for learning was voracious.

“When I worked as a night custodian I never missed an opportunity to learn from the vendors that sold chemicals and equipment to the district,” he says. In addition, Le continued studying English, as well as mathematics and computers, often relying on shoddy manuals to supplement his learning at home.

His hard work paid off: In 1991 he became a U.S. citizen and head custodian for Winston Churchill Elementary School.

Today, Le is supervisor of custodial services for all 20 schools in the district, plus the district office and maintenance facility. Together with his team, he developed the district’s custodial manual for operations and procedures — a major overhaul of the previous manual, which Craig Phillips, manager of environmental services, describes as “archaic at best.” Le also developed safety standards for emergency evacuation, coordinating his efforts with the local police and fire departments, as well as district administrators.

“Mr. Le is highly adaptive and understands the importance of inclusiveness,” notes Phillips. “Everyone on his staff has pride of ownership in the work they do. He is also highly intellectual and an advanced mathematician. If you want to do something, Mr. Le is one of those individuals who will figure out a way to do it better.”

Case in point: Together with the head custodians, Le developed a color-coded system so that his staff can tell at a glance what areas of a building have been cleaned and what sections still need attention. 

“When I arrive in a building, I don’t have time to go into every classroom,” says Le. “So I bring out the floor plan, and if I see yellow, for example, I know all the furniture is clean, and if I see blue, I know all the glass is clean. Using this format saves me a lot of time managing 21 buildings.”

Le was also instrumental in developing the one-fifth cleaning program.

“Buildings are divided up into sections, and custodians are responsible for detailed cleaning in one-fifth of their area nightly so that the building is 100 percent clean by the end of the week,” explains Phillips. “Over the years, with the one-fifth cleaning event and the standards Le has put forth, we’ve been able to reduce staff and save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars, annually.”

Le’s philosophy is simple: Work smart, work hard, and work together.

“Whenever something comes up, I call my custodians to work with me, and I show them how to do it,” he says. “The more you know, the better you are able to do the job.”