Hey, I’m Burke.
I run school operations for a living — buses, boilers, budgets, and everything in between.
Each week, I share the lessons nobody’s teaching in leadership books — just what works when you’re actually in the building.
If you’re in the trenches too, this is for you.
Let’s jump in.
The Power of a $25 Sensor
Saturday morning.
3:20 AM.
A water sensor tripped in one of our mechanical rooms.
A tiny puck. Maybe 2 inches across. Costs about $25.
But instead of my phone lighting up, the alert landed quietly in my email inbox.
At 3:20 AM.
While I was asleep.
By the time I checked it, we got lucky—only a small patch of wet carpet.
The water softener recycled at 2 AM, the floor drain couldn’t keep up, and the backup started spilling.
It could have been tens of thousands in damage.
Easy.
Every operations leader knows how fast water turns into mold, shutdowns, insurance deductibles, and headaches.
All from a floor drain trap that said, “Not today.”
The sensor worked.
The notification didn’t.
But the lesson hit me hard:
Sometimes disaster prevention is one cheap sensor + one correct notification setting away from perfection.
And too often in school operations, we overlook tools that are simple, inexpensive, and insanely effective.
Water Sensor Puck - ACTION SHOT 😃