A little elfin magic keeps Richmond County schools running smoothly.

"We're behind the scenes," said Benton Starks, the school board's director of maintenance and facilities. "It's like elves coming in the middle of the night."

His department is the only one in the school system that remains on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and it has become a point of pride for him and his staff to ensure that they remain invisible.

"We hope the only way they hear about us is because you report this," Assistant Director Adam Flono said. "This department, we want to be invisible. We did our job, and nobody knew we did our job."

The department is equipped with an emergency response vehicle specially designed to answer a wide range of calls, which comes in handy during the summer when vandalism tends to increase, Mr. Flono said.

"The next day, students wouldn't even know about it," he said. "You're not going to hold up class because you did damage."

The emergency truck enables crews to perform glass work on site, is stocked with materials to cover graffiti and is equipped with a generator in the case of a power outage.

Although summer marks vacation time for many, the department staffs its usual number of employees.

"No, there is no offseason for us -- never is," Mr. Flono said. "I'll be on vacation and get a call."

Severe weather produces the same quick response, Mr. Flono said, recalling the work of his staff in March at T.W. Josey High School.

"The roof blew off here over at Josey," he said. "We had school the next day."

But the fast turnaround comes with its downside.

Mr. Starks and Mr. Flono said they are in constant communication with their staff through land lines, e-mail, cell phones and PDAs.

When asked, Mr. Flono laughed about late-night calls, saying he shares a bedroom with his wife and his cell phone.

"If it's important and I don't answer it, I really let my job down. I let my people down," he said, adding he receives calls about three times a week. "Just about every night someone is out doing something."

And no two days are the same, Mr. Starks said.

"You can't make up this kind of stuff," he said, recalling a security system that was tripped at a school a few years back.

Two adults were "doing adult things" when they fell through the school's skylight, Mr. Starks said.

About half his time is spent in his office, while the other half is spent visiting schools.

"In my line of work, you don't get a lot done pushing paperwork," Mr. Starks said.

He sets aside one day each week to make rounds, which has proven valuable. He's surprised someone trying to steal copper and caught an employee taking a nap during his lunch break.

The maintenance department will become even more invisible in the fall. A pilot program will employ a mobile team of custodians who will perform most cleaning functions for a cluster of schools after hours. The initiative is expected to save $500,000.