Janitor cleaning the classroom illustration

The school custodians at Los Alamos High School and Los Alamos Middle School will keep their jobs despite a contract with a Tennessee company for night-time custodial services, according to an article on the Los Alamos Daily Post website.

Assistant Superintendent Lisa Montoya said because of the need for a quick turnaround, no request for proposal (RFP) was issued.

She said the district found a company through TIPS, an interlocal purchasing system similar to the Cooperative Educational Service (CES), which also is used by the State of New Mexico. That company, SSC Services for Education, headquartered in Knoxville, is a sister company to Chartwell, which provides food services for Los Alamos Public Schools.

SSC proposed providing 10 night-time custodians, cleaning supplies and cleaning equipment at a cost of $447,000, which Montoya said is $65,000 less than the district spent for 10 custodians.

Montoya said when she was appointed assistant superintendent for finance and operations the district was experiencing problems hiring custodial staff and was short six to eight custodians.

Despite advertising in local and out of town newspapers, Montoya said only one application was received.

Montoya said she has met with custodial staff three times since the decision was made to find a contractor but there still seems to be concern about possible job loss.

“The Board would never allow jobs to be lost,” she said. The Board voted unanimously Nov. 11 to approve the contract.

Read the full article here.