SCHOOL PLANT MANAGER KEY TO SUCCESS.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

It's still dark at 5:30 a.m., when Clarence Riley arrives for work at Noble Avenue Elementary School.

The 49-year-old father of four has been the plant manager at this North Hills campus for 21 years -- the guy we used to call the janitor.

That title rightfully got upgraded years ago when people finally began to figure out that the janitor was just as important -- if not more so -- than many administrators with fancy titles.

Nobody knows a school better than the person with all the keys.

Riley arrives at Noble hours before anyone else -- walking the campus to make sure everything is safe and ready for the school's 1,600 students.

``He makes this school run like a clock,'' says Noble Principal Margaret Espinosa-Nelson. ``I've been in the district 32 years, and he's the best plant manager I've ever seen.''

It's not just the wave and smile he has for everyone, adds Assistant Principal Valerie Codron. It's a lot more than that.

``Safety is his No. 1 concern, for the teachers as well as students,'' she says. ``Clarence is always thinking ahead, foreseeing obstacles others don't even see.''

So when word got around Noble last week that the plant manager would be celebrating his 21st year at the school on Wednesday -- June 21 -- it seemed like a great time to say thank you for making this school run like a clock for more than two decades.

Each weekday, Clarence and his wife, Cynthia, are on the 14 Freeway leaving their Palmdale home by 4:10 a.m. Cynthia is plant manager at Miller High, a special-education high school in Reseda.

``After I drop her off, I arrive at my school and unlock the gate to the bridge across the wash so a lot of the kids can avoid the busy streets walking to school,'' he says.

Then he walks through the campus opening restrooms and classrooms to make sure they're clean, safe, and free of any graffiti before he runs the sweeper through the campus.

``There's always something that has to be done that doesn't fall under my job title, but I don't care,'' Clarence says. ``I do it anyway.''

By the time parents begin dropping their kids off at school, Clarence is already out front waiting for them -- welcoming students to a safe, clean school.

``We all have a responsibility to do all we can to educate children, whether it's teaching them how to read and write, or teaching them to pick up after themselves,'' he says.

His workday ends at 2 p.m. He picks up his wife from her job at Miller High, keeping that campus safe and clean. Then they drive to Kennedy High in Granada Hills to pick up their youngest daughter, Camille, a junior, before heading home.

``I've been with the district 31 years total, and I think plant managers have one of the most important jobs in any school system,'' Clarence says.

No argument here. Nobody knows a school better than the person with all the keys.

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Noble Avenue Elementary School plant manager Clarence Riley is being honored Wednesday for his 21 years at the campus in North Hills.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer