School custodians work under a cloud

To the editor:

I would first of all like to thank and recognize the custodial staff of the Mat-Su school district that clean and manage the daily mechanisms of our schools. They are generally a quiet bunch, almost invisible to the public view, but nonetheless they are there. Day-in and day-out, they work in our schools trying to meet the standards and goals of cleanliness we have set for them, and expect from them. We want our schools to be clean. We, I would venture to say all, agree that our children and the staff of our schools deserve nothing less.

We all remember when the Mat-Su school district outsourced our cleaning contract to the NANA Corp. in 2006 (by prematurely breaking a contract that the district had made with the custodial staff). This was a blow to the 120 or so custodians who were jobless at the end of that school year. Since none of them saw it coming, or ever thought the district would do what it had done, many lost their homes, their families, their-self respect and self-worth as a result. My guess is many folks experiencing the economic crunch now can probably relate to what these men and women have gone through.

The school board and administration said the decision would save the district money.

Now, fast forward to 2009. The school district has reinstated custodians as part of the school district staff. It did hire custodians for this year, but has not made it clear if they will be part of the district in 2010-2011. These folks went through a very disorganized (to say the least) interview and hiring process. The jobs were offered without being told what the wage would be, how their pay scale would work, where they would work or what their work hours would be. They were asked to sign forms to have insurance premiums taken out of their checks without being told what the cost to them would be. They were initially told all of the day custodians would have to work split shifts (7-11 then 4-8) and that the teachers and the nurse would be responsible to clean messes during the time there would be no custodial staff available. In the middle of the process there were indications that the school district would give NANA back the contract. The applications were not available online, so all these folks, already scraping by, had to drive to Palmer to pick up and drop off the applications. This, I do not believe (and certainly hope), is the way the district generally conducts the hiring process.

The bottom line is this custodial staff is operating with one less half-time person (or more) per school. They are being paid $11 per hour and have not been told if they will receive a pay increase after the 90-day probationary period. It is my understanding the staff that worked for NANA took a $3 to $5 per hour pay cut, and some of the returning custodians from the district have taken a $10 to $12 per hour pay cut (some having been employed for more than 15 years previously with the MSSD). The expectations put on these custodians are high, they are operating with less staff and getting less money for it. In the Superintendents Update of the 8/5/2009 school board minutes, Mr. Troxel stated, “staff and students will need to pitch in by keeping trash off of the floors and keeping the schools clean.”

So the next time you are at your local school and you see one of those bustling custodians please tell them thanks for what they do. Oh, and if you have time to volunteer in the classroom, the teachers could use some cleaning help (as they are now being asked to wash the desks and vacuum daily) and when the school board election comes up, please get out there and vote thoughtfully.

A closing thought: while the Anchorage and Fairbanks school districts have beefed up their custodial staff this year to help keep their schools extra clean in light of the swine flu, the Mat-Su school district has not. Just something to think about.

Eileen Bostwick

Wasilla