XI. DPS COO, Mark Schrupp’s Management of Boiler Operations Imposes a Safety Threat to Minority
Community
Photo of a Boiler in DPS detroitschoolsafety.com
SUMMARY
Detroit Public Schools Facilities Manager, Mark Schrupp asked the City of Detroit to excuse DPS from “Post of
Duty” for Stationary Engineers in the operation, maintenance, repair of heating, cooling and ventilating
(HVAC) equipment including steam and hot water boilers. Stationary engineers are licensed specifically to
operate boilers.
DETAILS
Stationary Engineers prevent catastrophes. The City of Detroit determined a long time ago that the best
practice was to require an on-site Licensed Stationary Engineer to be present whenever a large boiler was
running to keep the occupants of the building safe. This is called “Post of Duty.” Detroit was the first city to
require this, and many cities and even whole states followed Detroit’s lead, and still do, because boilers can
explode if safety equipment isn’t working and no one is immediately available to fix it.
As the photo shows, the Detroit Public Schools COO Mark Schrupp acting for the Governor, impaired the
operation, maintenance, and repair of the boilers and is putting people at risk. As a result, this complaint will
further show there have been school black outs, and schools operating without heat in winter. As he cuts back
in the critical safety protocols, it becomes more difficult to keep the community and the engineers safe and the
buildings warm. Now Schrupp proposes only one engineer for five buildings instead of one. He wants to
install equipment to monitor the boilers instead. However, the equipment manufacturer recommends this
equipment be monitored by a human being. Its purpose is assist human beings, not to replace human beings.
The City’s boiler experts said that operating the boilers without an on-site Licensed Stationary Engineer, to
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