Douglas Glenn – West Milford School District

On a Tuesday afternoon at Macopin Middle School, a cluster of students who once dreaded the school day now race through the hallway to beat the bell — not for gym class or lunch, but for a converted woodshop humming with monitors, headsets, and the sound of friendly trash talk. The room used to smell like sawdust. Now it glows with the blue light of competitive gaming, and for a growing number of West Milford students, it has become the reason they show up at all.

The project concept came after meeting with several vendors and deciding what the district wanted to do with the space. It received quotes for upwards of $500,000 for the project. That transformation, built largely with in-house labor and materials acquired through grants, was completed at a small fraction of that price. This is one of the latest examples of what Douglas Glenn, supervisor of operations for the West Milford Public School District in New Jersey, calls simply, “getting stuff done with what we have.”

Since the eSports lab opened, Macopin Middle School has watched its excessive absence rate drop from 18 percent to 12 percent, a shift that began after the school was placed on a corrective action plan and started steering chronically absent students toward the program. What started as an intervention has since grown into a full class offering and an after-school club, drawing in students who never saw themselves on any roster.

“My team can do anything, including converting a woodshop into an eSports lab,” Glenn says. “I have very talented people on my team, and they all utilize those talents in their work. They all care about their work and work for the district with a purpose.”

For students who do not play traditional sports, the lab has become more like a locker room: a place to collaborate, build confidence, and find belonging alongside classmates who share an interest in technology. District staff describes the ripple effects as much cultural as academic, with the same students who once avoided school now organizing their week around practice and matches.

A career built on service

Glenn’s path to West Milford did not start in a school building. He grew up wanting to be a firefighter, studied fire science at John Jay College, and spent the early part of his career as a fire inspector before moving into corporate safety and loss prevention leadership, including a stretch with Disney/ABC on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. That experience gave him grounding in fire and life safety programs for large organizations, knowledge that now underpins how he approaches every project across West Milford’s seven schools.

He later completed a facilities management program at Rutgers, finishing the two-year course in just 13 months, and stepped into education the way many facilities leaders do — as a custodian. From there, he worked his way up through the ranks before landing what he calls his dream job in West Milford in February 2024.

“I didn’t grow up wanting to work in facilities in schools, but nothing has been more satisfying than working in the public sector for the kids, and I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Glenn says.

That sense of purpose extends to how he leads his team of more than 40+ custodians, maintenance staff, and tradespeople, who are responsible for roughly 600,000 square feet of building space spread across 20 buildings and 185 acres, located about 50 miles from New York City (in an 80-square-mile district). The district includes four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, all supported by an administration Glenn credits with fighting to preserve every possible program for students.

Navigating real constraints

West Milford’s location brings a financial complication that few outside the district fully appreciate. Because the community falls under the Highlands Act, which protects land used to distribute water across the state, much of the district’s available property cannot be developed, limiting the tax base and the revenue that typically funds school operations. As a result, the district leans heavily on state aid. A dependency that grew more strained this year after a 23 percent increase in healthcare costs forced difficult decisions, including the closure of one elementary school.

“We have a great administration here, and we tried everything we could to not have to close a school,” Glenn says.

Rather than letting the closure disrupt daily operations, Glenn’s team spent the summer relocating the closed school’s equipment and resources among the four remaining elementary schools, all while maintaining routine seasonal maintenance. It was not, by his own account, a typical summer, but the crew accomplished it while still completing its regular workload. “My team stepped up when given the challenge of relocating the furniture, materials and school resources to the other schools”

When new requests arrive, and they arrive constantly, Glenn’s team applies a consistent filter. Safety comes first, followed by how a given project will affect the district’s operations and the school day itself, along with any legal requirements associated with the work.

People first, projects second

Glenn’s approach to leadership mirrors his approach to facilities: put people in a position to succeed, then give them the tools, materials, and freedom to do the job well. He also serves as the district’s School Safety Specialist, drawing on his background in security and loss prevention to keep that priority embedded in every decision his team makes.

“All the people on my team have the same mission — we are here for the kids,” Glenn says.

“One of our colleagues says that whenever you’re having a bad day, go for a walk around an elementary school, because those kids are always smiling and laughing. It’s hard to have a bad day in that environment,” Glenn says.

Community pride runs through West Milford beyond the classroom, from bagpipers in the high school’s large and very successful band program to the deer statue that guards one of the entrances to the high school; many residents fiercely protect the small-town identity.

Another example is West Milford graduate Jen Pawol, who became the first female to umpire a Major League Baseball game on Aug. 9, 2025. The school celebrated with a watch party open to the public, with a full festival atmosphere outside the school and the game broadcast in the auditorium. Later in the year, Pawol came back to her high school to celebrate the naming of the softball field in her honor.

“Jen is a class act, and was very appreciative of the celebration,” Glenn recalls.

Recently, Glenn sees his team’s work, from a resurfaced playground to a converted eSports lab, as part of maintaining that identity even when budgets are tight. With help from organizations like the PTA’s and other community groups, we can get the funding and support needed for these meaningful projects.

“We just completed a playground piece at another one of the elementary schools. The kids are going to be so happy,” Glenn says.

Those moments, small as they may seem against the backdrop of school closures and rising healthcare costs, are what Glenn returns to when describing why the work matters.

Back at Macopin, where the eSports lab now buzzes most afternoons, that philosophy is easy to see in practice. A former woodshop, reimagined through resourcefulness rather than a large budget, has become a space where students who once struggled to walk through the front door now compete, collaborate, and belong. For Glenn and his team, that is the point of every project on the list. Whether it carries a seven-figure price tag or costs little more than sweat equity: put the children and your people first, and the results will follow.