Fewer janitors has produced dirtier schools: Plan to reduce custodians hasn’t worked well
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“There’s been some friction this year,” said Caldwell. “It’s hurt morale, which has affected job performance. It’s just not working. I wish it was, but it’s not.”
He added, “This is not a reflection on the custodians. They’re doing the best they can working with less people and more responsibility.”
The cost-saving measure was adopted by the board last summer after it had considered outsourcing the system’s custodial services to a private company. The alternative measure was proposed by board member Mike Holland and reduced the number custodians from 65 to 41, while at the same time reducing their time worked from 12 to 11 months. While saying at the time his plan was far from perfect, Holland said he believed it was better than outsourcing as it would save more money, keep the remaining custodians as system employees, complete with benefits, and “hopefully will increase productivity.”
But according to one county principal, the measure has had the opposite effect.
“It’s been terrible,” said West Elementary principal Troy Jones. “It’s not been good at all. We have dedicated people here, but it can’t be as good as it has been. We lost two of our five custodians and then the three that were left are required to take 30 days off a year without pay. When you add sick days, personal days and vacation days it adds up to 63 days per year each one is off.”
“There’s just not enough people to take care of a building this size,” continued Jones. “I sweep the halls myself a couple times a day. I realize the board wants to save some money, but at the same time we have to let the staff do the job like it’s supposed to be done.”
In addition to the extra strain on the remaining custodians, Caldwell told board members the cost-saving measure has also placed an additional burden on his maintenance department, which has been assigned to cut grass at all schools, a job formerly handled by each school’s custodians. This, in turn, has caused the maintenance department to have less time for more maintenance-related work.
“Something needs to change,” he said. “I know this is a touchy subject, but we just can’t keep it up. This plan affects everybody. It ain’t working and it ain’t going to.”
Caldwell was instructed by the board’s Personnel Committee to study the problem, explore options and report back to the committee next month.