CPS Principals Still Complaining About Dirty Schools
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 2, 2014 9:40PM
The custodial situation at Chicago Public Schools seems to have improved marginally since reports first surfaced the schools were becoming incubators for roaches and rodents. That’s what Chicago Principals Association President Clarice Berry told the City Council Education Committee Monday during hearings on how Aramark, the hospitality services company that holds a $260 million with CPS to clean the schools, is improving.
Berry said there are still instances of filthy schools, buildings whose custodial needs are understaffed, shoddy cleaning equipment and principals paying for cleaning supplies for their own schools out of pocket. Berry called the custodial staffing, in particular, “horrific.”
A school with 900 kids with one custodian in the daytime? We have to collect breakfast. I’ve got assistant principals who are emptying garbage. I‘ve got all kinds of situations. You cannot run a school with 900, 1,000 or 1,300 kids with one custodian in the morning and one at night. Just last week, we were told some of custodial issues will be taken care of. However, going from one custodian to two or from one to 1.5 is not gonna fix the problem.
Berry voiced concerns a brutal winter could compound matters with janitors charged with spreading salt on sidewalks and mopping floors to prevent students and teachers from slipping on top of the other documented issues since the Aramark contract went into effect.
“There are no mops, no buckets in the schools anymore,” Berry said. “And we keep hearing, `You don’t need those mops and buckets.’”
Aramark regional vice president Trevor Ferguson painted a rosier picture, as someone who works for a company with a $260 million contract would. Ferguson said turnover, open job slots and absenteeism are down and that the schools are “cleaner than when we got there.”
“Folks are showing up to work. They’re doing their jobs and we’re training them,” he said.
Ald. John Arena (45th) threw some shade Ferguson’s way as he recalled visiting a school in his ward three weeks ago where he saw empty soap dispensers in the restrooms. Arena also complained about janitors being moved from school to school and not giving them a chance to familiarize themselves with the buildings they’re supposed to maintain.
“The expectation is that, if we’re gonna award you a $340 million contract that you think about this before you implement and don’t say, `Sorry, we’ve had 300 people leave.’"
Aramark was set to lay off 468 custodians at the end of September before reports surfaced about the conditions at the schools. Instead, the most senior 178 janitors kept their jobs while the remaining 290 remained on the job until the end of October.
Previously
Emanuel, Byrd-Bennett To Aramark: Clean Up Your Act And Our Schools
Janitors Union Warned CPS, Aramark About Job Cuts