As first day of school approaches, clock's ticking on campus preparations

SALT LAKE CITY — Just as students and teachers count down the days until summer vacation, school district employees who clean schools, conduct maintenance and keep the grounds tidy are hard at work to meet a different deadline: the start of the academic year.The marathon of preparing schools — which includes the icky job of scraping chewing gum from school desks and chairs, refinishing gym floors, manicuring thousands of acres of play fields, and major and minor construction projects