Custodial Services

Here in Durham Public Schools, there are a great number of janitors and custodians hired to clean and keep tidy our many schools. One common misunderstanding is that these janitors are hired by the schools.

DPS contracts with SSC Service Solutions, a company which partners with educational institutions to provide maintenance for grounds.

What's Not Fair? Most of these custodians who work for Hillside are part time workers, meaning that they don’t get any benefits. Many are expected to do full time work in half the time in order to clean the school as quickly as possible in the short amount of time that they have. Some reported having to work 7am-3pm shifts with 2 breaks every 15 mins and one lunch, working a total of 40 hours in addition to overtime. Even after these overtime shifts, they are not given proper pay.

The Pay

The custodial industry in Durham has come across a stump in the road since many private contractors have recently been filing for bankruptcy. The schools pay for the contractors in return for the services of the janitors and cleaners they employ. The janitors are usually expected to have their pay sourced from the money that the contractors were paid from DPS and this is just one of the many ways that the lack of appreciation is being demonstrated for the janitors of our school system. It is important to note that while this issue had received a solution to the problem that had came about had only reached its conclusion after having been assessed over two years since the issue was brought up which had inconvenienced the workers it had affected because of their pay being halted.

Unfortunately, the issue of pay regarding the custodians in Durham has recently produced a solution with the gain of $77,000 of wages being bestowed to the DPS custodians because for the money owed from a lack of pay and overtime served.

This results in a dirty school because of the lack of time given to the janitors to properly clean the school. The janitors of the school work in shifts, and as a result whatever second shift doesn’t finish, first shift must finish in the morning, creating a vicious cycle.

On the other hand while these occurrences do happen a result of the janitors not being able to work these times with full pay, it is in some ways alleviated by the collaboration efforts of teachers and administrators who work together with the janitors to keep the school tidy and clean.

Will Hillside stay clean or dirty?

Thanks to the collaborative efforts of the staff and the janitors, the custodial staff has significantly improved over the past seven years, according to custodial staff member Mr. George. Mr. George had reported that while collaboration with the staff of the school has improved as a whole, the work of one staff member in particular has been a major contributor. As the school’s custodial leader, Ms. Wilburn provides little things for her staff that they say makes a big impact.

Quick Interview While interviewing some custodial workers here at hillside, we gathered this information from their perspectives.

Mr. Donald

Mr. Donald says, "10 years as a custodian, good experience, ups and downs. Lots of littering going on, no negatives, teachers try to get students to do what they're supposed to do, administrative help. Good job, positive to see kids going on the right path. My responsibilities are keeping the school clean, we have the correct tools sometimes, 50/50, if tools are asked we get them ASAP!"

Mr. George

Mr. George says, "The team has grown as a custodial staff, more collaborative equals the better! Not to crazy odd situations, have proper tools adequate to get the job done. floors has to be done, general cleaning, some custodians do floors, some do classrooms and some do outside duties."

At the end of the day, it is everyone's responsibility to keep our halls and bathrooms clean. Nobody wants to walk into the bathroom and see paper towels and tissue everywhere. No one likes clogged toilets and sinks with vomit in them. And no one, absolutely no one, likes to walk down the hall and be able to smell the stuff that exited your body. No one wants so see wrappers in the hall or gum on the bottom of their shoes. It's gross.