A reader comments: “I disagree with your simplistic approach to cleaning today’s schools. The days of Janitor Joe wandering around the halls and joking with the kids are long gone. Today, schools are used for a lot of different events and keeping teachers, kids, parents and the Board of Education happy is a lot harder. Any response?”

Actually I agree with your thoughts and believe we are on the same page. Please remember that I only have a short space to deal with what is oftentimes a complex subject. I certainly respect the challenges that a school custodian has today and recognize that in today’s competitive environment, fears of contagion and budget cuts, the front line custodian at a school is probably not appreciated as much as he/she should be. Welcome to an era of estimating and workloading that does not take into account what I refer to as the “human element” where Murphy’s Law is alive and well.

The current challenges are due to many factors but ill informed decision makers such as Boards of Education are near the top. They usually develop a poorly thought out wish list of tasks and responsibilities that would require more labor than they are willing to pay for. An example is when the custodian is required to be available to cover the cafeteria (breakfast and lunch) while being on call for spills while being available to respond to teacher’s requests immediately. One person simply cannot be in more than one place at once and the budget does not allow for three staff members during these busy time. Also, the reality is that it is difficult to hire, train and retain someone to be available at short notice for these type events.

We will continue these thoughts in a future article.

Your comments and questions are important. I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, keep it clean...

Mickey Crowe has been involved in the industry for over 35 years. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant. You can reach Mickey at 678-314-2171 or CTCG50@comcast.net


posted on 12/9/2015