School board vote

eliminates 112 custodial positions

March 3, 2006

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - In a split decision, the Mat-Su School Board voted 4-3 Wednesday night to cut 112 custodians from the school district's payroll next year and award a private custodial and light maintenance contract to NANA Management Services for the next three years.

For the second straight meeting, hundreds of union members from the Classified Employees Association joined their supporters to oppose the privatization plan.

More than 30 people testified at the meeting. The majority attempted to convince the school board that privatization was a bad idea, despite recommendations by Mat-Su's Chief School Administrator Bob Doyle that the move could save the district $1.6 million next year.

School administrators argue that increasing costs to employee retirement benefits, health insurance and salary increases have taxed the school district's budget. Doyle has repeatedly warned school board members that failure to cut costs in the custodial services area could lead to cuts that directly affect classroom learning and teacher hiring.

While most of the union members and their supporters were vocal in their opposition, several speakers praised the school district's plan to privatize.

Budget cuts are a necessary reality for the public school system, argued Penny Nixon, a founding member of the Mat-Su Taxpayers Association. With ever-increasing life expectancies and rising retirement costs, Nixon said school budgets would experience more strain in future years. Part of the solution, he said, was to cut areas that did not directly affect student learning.

Loyd Tims, who identified himself as a fellow taxpayer, concurred.

&#8220We need to cut costs,” he said. &#8220We need to cut spending.”

Several speakers questioned, however, whether NANA could provide the same level of service and cleanliness that current district custodians provide in area schools. Others claimed NANA was a for-profit business and did not have the school district's best interests in mind.

Ron Rucker, president of the CEA union, said that in order for the NANA contract to work, most of the current custodial staff would have to make the switch to work for NANA at lower hourly rates. Rucker said he doubted whether many of his members would make the transition to a private employer.

&#8220A lot of people are saying they won't go over there, they won't do it,” he said. &#8220I don't think the majority of our membership will work there. There may be a few that try, but the other question is how long will they stay?”

Mike DeHart is a district custodian who cleans Meadow Lakes and Iditarod elementary schools. During a break at the meeting, he said he didn't know if he would work for NANA next year.

&#8220It's up in the air right now,” he said. &#8220If I talk to them and things are like I think they should be, then I might. Two or three of my fellow co-workers, though, said ‘no,' they'd quit.”

In direct testimony to school board members, NANA Management area supervisor Darin Hargraves assured them that his company could not only provide the district with a cost-saving service but schools, he said, would be cleaner and custodian positions fully staffed and supervised.

Hargraves also said he expects individual employee productivity to increase between 10 and 20 percent with the use of newer, faster machinery.

NANA currently has contracts to clean Providence Alaska Medical Center, Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport, Sitka School District and the Alaska Native Medical Center.

Hargraves said NANA hopes to employ many of the district's current custodians.

&#8220While there will be sacrifices, there will also be benefits,” he said, referring to the lower starting wages at NANA but opportunities for advancement. &#8220We hope all current workers will make the transition to work with us.”

Monthly computer reports on the cleanliness of each school are another addition Hargraves said NANA brings to the table.

School Board President Sarah Welton, however, told her colleagues to think about more than just the bottom line when casting their votes.

&#8220I ask you to think about ethical considerations,” she said. &#8220Can you afford to live on $10.75 an hour?”

Classroom instruction was only one part of a holistic education, she said, echoing the testimony of others who argued that district custodians provide valuable mentorship and support to students they encounter.

&#8220Are we valuing all of education or only schooling?” Welton asked. &#8220Education is more than just rote stuff that happens in the classroom.”

That argument did not ultimately win the day, though.

&#8220I certainly don't have any quarrels with the level of [custodial] service we have now or the individuals who are doing it,” said school board member Larry DeVilbiss, who then added that cuts were necessary.

The district, he said, can't afford to pay such high wages and benefits to custodial employees.

&#8220We've set ourselves on a track that is unsustainable, and we are paying for it now,” he said.

Moments after the board voted to award NANA a private contract, union president Rucker and other union members and supporters quietly filed out of the packed upstairs room at Palmer High School's library.

Rucker said he's concerned that the vote sets a precedent for outsourcing other district services such as bus driving and maintenance.

&#8220I'll have to call my leadership together and talk about what happens next,” he said. &#8220Morale is already bad - I don't know how we are going to finish the year. Tonight, 112 custodians have been given the shaft.”

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.