School District in Texas Benefits from Robotics | Nilfisk Official Website
November 08, 2022

School District in Texas Benefits from Robotics


One of the fastest growing school districts in Texas, McKinney Independent School District (MISD) enrolls more than 24,500 students in 20 elementary schools, five middle schools, three high schools, two alternative campuses and one early childhood education center. Including administration and support, the district maintains 68 facilities covering more than 4 million square feet! That’s a lot of floors to clean! Fortunately, with the help of their facilities manager, Aramark, they have discovered the timesaving benefits of robotic floor scrubbers.

In September 2021, the district installed auto scrubbers in two of its high schools to clean large hard surfaces, including the gymnasiums, cafeterias and large corridors. In total, they are using the autonomous machines to clean 115,000 square feet. The best part is that the scrubbers work overnight, for five hours each, independently navigating spaces such as hallways and gyms, which helps alleviate the district’s labor shortage.

“The auto-scrubbers have been a huge advantage during our struggles with current labor shortages,” said W. Greg Suttle, Chief Operations Officer, MISD.  “We are delighted that Aramark had the vision to suggest that the district partner with them to make this long-term equipment investment.”

The scrubbers that Aramark and MISD selected are Nilfisk Liberty SC 50 units that use UV-C disinfection technology, which maximizes cleanliness without supervision. The scrubbers employ an Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) light located at the rear of each machine to kill bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Long utilized in the healthcare sector, UVGI technology has seen significant growth across industries since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its effectiveness and efficiency in limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

So far, the machines are delivering several critical advantages for McKinney ISD:

  • Consistent, reliable results
  • 5 labor hours freed each day for staff to complete additional projects or tasks
  • Improved optimization of cleaning staff time
  • Opportunity for reprioritization of labor
  • Increased confidence in cleanliness levels and sanitization of floors
  • Perception of innovation, health, and safety
  • Reduced cost per sq. ft. of cleanable space

“We are experiencing many benefits with our new robotic floor scrubbers,” added Suttle. “The mundane task of cleaning and sanitizing our gym, cafeteria, and corridor floors are automatically completed every night, which allows the remaining Aramark staff time to concentrate on the more detailed cleaning tasks and projects throughout the schools. We are happy we made the investment.”

To find out if auto-scrubbers can help you save time and money, click here.

More articles

Take a look at our articles and explore the world of Nilfisk.