New Haven Independent

Posted by: eli | January 15, 2008 4:06 PM

Here is what i know about the N.H.P.S. and the custodias who work in them.
for the New Haven schools, they are in trouble, big trouble. The graduation rates are abysmal, the money spent on the physical appearance of school buildings would have been better spent on more teachers to ease crowding, after school & summer programs, and - in my opiniion - sex ed and "real world ed" (where the kids are readied for life after high school)
What i know about the custodians is this (this is where paul can edit this out, but i'd like him to please, please investigate this - i can't give my name because my wife is a teacher)
School custodians don't have a glamorous job, but they are well paid. every time a new school is built in new haven, they are given state of the art media and communications equipment. These new schools' auditoriums are rented out to various groups. Guess who is in charge of making arraingments witht these groups, and handle the money - which seldom makes it's way to the system - it's the custodians.
Also, having been around theses schools after hours, i know that many of the "after hour" custodians only show up for a small portion of what they claim they work. Many of these people have thier own landscaping/ cleaning / construction and other businesses which they operate during the time they are supposed to be working. there is nobody in the schools to verify they are there, and the taxpayers (as i am) foot the bill.

Posted by: Stan | January 15, 2008 7:31 PM

As always, the real issue is economic. Tight budgets and a shrinking tax base to pay for ever-increasing educational costs. Parents want educational excellence, children deserve it, but who's gonna foot the bill?

Aramark is a reputable business services company. In concert with similar national facility services companies, they offer value-added services, with a reasonable margin, at a competitive price. Typically, these price points are market driven and commensurate with prevailing school district budgets. This relates directly to staffing. If taxpayers adequately fund, then school districts can adequately allocate resources - to managed services companies for cleaning and maintenance. This is the basic rub; reconciling dwindling resources against competing factional demands and escalating costs.

Custodians perform a thankless job and are hardworking. Custodial staffing levels have diminished by 20% over the last 10 years - nationwide. Equipment mechanization and efficient cleaning methods have resulted in some productivity gains to offset this to a degree, by working smarter and not harder. Nationwide labor productivity gains and cost reductions have occurred through business services outsourcing. This is a proven fact, indisputable by labor unions. Still........there has been an obvious erosion of facility cleanliness in urban areas with a declining tax base and higher labor costs. The reality is that institutions struggle to balance the escalating costs. These are the reflections of a 30-yr seasoned veteran in cleaning operations within healthcare, schools, and commercial markets.

Rather than adopt a confrontational posture, it is more effective for the union, school district, and facility contractor to partner together, to evaluate current performance and productivity, against national benchmarks. This approach will reveal opportunities for improvement, and present realistic goals. Anybody can "grandstand" and point the finger. Working together to uncover tangible solutions is the real answer.

Posted by: Joe Custodian | January 15, 2008 9:04 PM

Hey Eli you should get your facts straight

1- Custodians dont have any media or communications equipment nor do we have anything to do with said items what so ever.

2- The renting of auditoriums or any other parts of the building is handled by downtown.

3- Any arrangments made or handling of money is also done downtown.(in fact many times when we do see the permits the people are charged for a certain amount of custodians and only one is brought in to do the work.)maybe you should ask aramark where that money is in the system.

4- The vast majority of custodians dont own a buisness this is their only means of income. So because your wife and you might have a problem with a certain person or people please do not judge or group all other custodians with them.

5-we dont know what or where you are talking about but the buildings we work at we have supervisors that can and will verify where we are at all times.

6- So all that we are saying is you should really do your homework before you make accusations about stuff you obviously dont know anything about. Especially about peoples livelihood.

Posted by: Dean Moriarity | January 16, 2008 1:38 AM

Eli writes:

"What i know about the custodians is this (this is where paul can edit this out, but i'd like him to please, please investigate this - i can't give my name because my wife is a teacher)
School custodians don't have a glamorous job, but they are well paid. every time a new school is built in new haven, they are given state of the art media and communications equipment. These new schools' auditoriums are rented out to various groups. Guess who is in charge of making arraingments witht these groups, and handle the money - which seldom makes it's way to the system - it's the custodians."

Oh, my dear Eli, you are so sadly misinformed. Notwithstanding a very arbitrary judgement of custodians being "well paid", you are simply wrong on your facts. AFSCME Local 287 (New Haven Board of Ed.) is absolutely NOT in charge of making arrangements with whatever entity rents a public school space (and by the way, "arrangements" contains no "i", maybe a schoolteacher could have helped there). In any case, it's a permit process, as it naturally would be for any civic building, and the custodians and their union have nothing to do with selection or arrangements of the process. When a permit is processed, the custodial supervisor passes it down to the particular school, and then plans are made to facilitate the event. In the "old days" custodians were usually assigned on overtime to cover the event. Nowadays, it usually becomes the responsibility of the night crew (because most permit events are in the evening) to tend to what the permitee's needs are. And at times these needs can be extensive, such as setting up function rooms or areas, fulfilling whatever special needs they have, and giving them a clean enviroment. After the affair is over, there is the break-down and clean-up, to restore things to a normal state for the resumption of school in the morning. Now, all this is being done while these night crew custodians are supposed to be working on cleaning the rooms and halls and bathrooms for the next day. How do you suppose this gets accomplished? Guess what? It doesen't! Something has to suffer when you stretch your workforce in this manner. If any teacher feels that their enviroment is not up to par for each teaching day, I strongly encourage them to contact New Haven's Maintenance department and demand why they don't have a clean enviroment. The school custodian used to have a dedicated job to ensure that each teacher had the ideal physical setting to teach in. Well, that is out the window since Aramark. The general line now is to use whatever body you need, where ever you need it, and hey if the teacher's classes are still dirty in the morning, then blame the custodians. Aramark is a company that has consistently ignored input from custodians, created fears of job security, and trounced job descriptions. Would anyone like to have a corporate entity come in and say: "You do THIS now" even though it's not in your job description? Oh, but then again, it's only "janitors" we're talking about.

Eli again writes:

"Guess who is in charge of making arraingments witht these groups, and handle the money - which seldom makes it's way to the system - it's the custodians."

So, you are making a charge that custodians are "pocketing" the money from these events??

That's ludicrous. If you have anything to back up that claim, then put it up. Otherwise don't be so foolish as to make claims that border on libel.

Investigate the facts before you make accusations like this in a public forum. I can't say where your information is coming from, but you're being fed a spoonful of pablum. And it's probably the custodians (sorry, JANITORS) that will have to clean it up.

Posted by: PlayniceNow | January 18, 2008 10:28 AM

Being part of the New Haven Board of Education for going on thirty years now, I have dealt with both Custodial staff and Aramark. I have had many positions, and because of this I now know all school buildings, and the staff that resides within them. Security, custodial, food service, teachers, principals, and yes even you Aramark. But let's just focus on our Maintenance dept, mainly custodians. These poor gentlemen and I am sorry hard working women, yes that is right some of these people that are having their jobs played around with are women, which I bet you a plethora of children in greater New Haven look up to, because these ladies and gentleman care and maybe even related to them. I say these poor individuals because their jobs have been talked about and played around with for years, but really started get into shaky situations when Aramark came about. They were saviors at first giving equipment and supplies that were much needed, but it was not Aramarks money, it was ours the tax payers, and they were just spending it. Understaffing is taking a toll on the buildings, and guess who's performing this miracle of keeping them in check in the meantime, yes the custodians.
All these new constructions being built and ones already up and running, who beautifies them every night for our kids, not little cleaning elves, yes again it's the custodians. Some people I am sure have complaints, where ever you go there is going to be someone inquiring about something, earlier postings on this website state all negatives about custodians, and questioning their wages. Come on now that's not very fair; some respected figures in New Haven would feel pretty nervous if there was a city wide investigation on salaries. Tax Payers of New Haven do you know how long a principal has to work to get the same yearly gross as an Aramark big shot, their whole career!! Don't get me wrong not every Aramark employee makes that much, the rest just equal out to about ... two or three custodians pay. Sorry Aramark I really don't mean to pick on you, you're just doing your job. You know that whole David and Goliath type situation.
My fellow New Haven'ers a lot of us went to school in these buildings and now our children follow in our footsteps. Lets stand behind our own, B.O.E will definitely feel the consequences if these guys are swept away. These big management companies are designed to do just this; find ways to save you money, but the thing is majority of the people are left in the dark and are only shown tidbits of what is really going on behind the scenes. Big deal you donated to a community college, all you did was give a refund. 287 keep your guard up, play it safe, read your contracts EVERYONE, stick together, and don't be brainwashed by the opposing team.

Posted by: al coleman | January 19, 2008 4:19 PM

I hate to admit it because it sounds like an unfair blanket statement, but my dealing with the custodians, both at my daughters' schools, and when we rented a gymnasium for an event, but i've seen the same problems with the nhps custodians.
and, yes, my sister uses a landscaping business owned and run by a custodian of new haven's schools.
perhaps somone can check in ocationally after school hours to make sure people are where they claim to be, if an audit proves me wrong, i apologize.

Posted by: Dean Moriarity | January 19, 2008 11:34 PM

Al Coleman writes:

"perhaps somone can check in ocationally after school hours to make sure people are where they claim to be, if an audit proves me wrong, i apologize."

At least you are wise enough to have an open mind, and not jump to conclusions. I'm curious as to what the "same problems" you've seen are, if you could be a little more specific.

At any rate, let me put you mind at ease about your last concern. If you have daughters in New Haven schools, then you are most likely a New Haven taxpayer. I'd like you to know that a portion of your taxes are funding the custodial supervisor's salaries. Whether anyone here thinks said salaries are wasted or not is a moot point, and a topic for another discussion. The fact is that as it stands, custodial supervisors are held accountable by their superiors, and trust me, they do a very good job of ensuring the workforce is where they're supposed to be. The scenario of a custodian not at his/her job, and in fact out working at another job on the city's dime is laughable. Maybe, thirty years ago you might have seen this, but times have changed and there's a very high level of accountability nowadays. Of course, this is not to say there isn't the small faction of people who are going to break/bend whatever their job description is. But, that occurs in EVERY field you can name. To look at custodians in that light harkens back to the 70's or earlier, when the mindset was that they were just Jane/Joe Schmoes, cleaning toilets, emptying garbage and sweeping floors, with not a brain in their head. It was wrong then, and it's wrong now. To my mind, it smacks of racism, sexism and elitism.

To re-empahise my point, rest assured, custodians in New Haven schools are very much supervised, and the majority are dedicated to providing New Haven's kids with a clean environment. The few bad apples (that are in every profession) SHOULD be gotten rid of. But the rest, that are doing their job, SHOULD be praised, instead of being maligned.

Posted by: eli | January 20, 2008 11:19 AM

me thinks dean moaiarity doth protest too much.
o.k. new haven board of ed, specifically, check into the actions of your beloved custodians at the following schools, wilbur cross, nathan hale, lincoln basset. then we'll talk. and i'll keep in mind that there was never a union or a union member who took wrongful advantage of their position. never, never ever.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | January 20, 2008 11:51 AM

did not read all comments
but haven't alot of city's fired Aramark...Why would we use a company that no other city wants??? They most of got rid of them for a good reason. Get rid of them! Keep these jobs as local civil servant jobs! We know they are far from saving us money. And the quality is low..and they keep tacking on more expenses.

Posted by: Dean Moriarity | January 20, 2008 2:53 PM

Eli writes: "me thinks dean moaiarity doth protest too much"

I do protest, but I have cited facts that back up my views (such as the permit process, etc.). You have only thrown out vague accusations without any facts to substantiate them. Be specific, bring your concerns to the appropriate BOE office, and I can assure you , they WILL be looked into. Just stating that some custodians are not on their jobs when they're supposed to be, or that they are mishandling monies collected for permits won't find a solution. Back them up, and speak out.

And if you feel that strongly about investigating the situtation, then I agree with you. Push for it. And not just for the three schools you cite, but for the entire district. Yes, you're going to be right, there are going to be some bad appples. But they will be in the minority, the same as in any other field. And if they're weeded out, all the better. The system will benefit from that, and in turn so will the taxpayers.

As far as union leadership taking advantage of their positions? Again, bad apples. Get rid of them! (Which, BTW, HAS been done in the past). But read the news on other City departments also. The Maintenance Dept. is far from unique in that respect.

Posted by: al coleman | January 20, 2008 4:54 PM

you know what mr. moairaty? at first i was just sharing my experiences because mine are not out of the ordinary, and we ARE talking about OUR CHILDEREN. it's one thing for my garbage man or librarian to be at archie moore's drinking beer at lunchtime, away from thier job to "double dip" in the summertime or pocket the $75 they've charged me to have my meeting, but this involves people who have a direct impact on my kids, and therefore, they should be held to a much, much higher standard.
my thinking now is "if the union doesn't like it, then it must be good for us taxpayers"
mr. clark is correct that it is a publicity stunt.
you've made me angry dean, and now i'm going to bring this u with our principals.

Posted by: bulldog | January 20, 2008 5:49 PM

Hey MR. ELI,
As others have stated, get your facts right before you go barking up this tree.. Its funny how you say that the custodians are out of the building doing other jobs while we are on the clock, and that there is no one here to prove if we are in the building or not. That just shows how ignorant you are. You are making alot of accusations my friend. And I for 1 am insulted. we work very hard, and so does everyone else in this job, and we are not appreciated. Its funny that I bring in my own tools to help me do a better job, because the ones provided to me are not "sate of the art", and are actually old and worthless...... And by the way, ask my Principle who leaves here evey night just before my shift is over, if Im here with out even taking my dinner break.......So you might want to think very hard next time before you speak.....Then again it might hurt for you to actually think.......

Posted by: Dean Moriarity | January 20, 2008 11:33 PM

Al Coleman writes: "you've made me angry dean, and now i'm going to bring this u with our principals"

Excellent! I'm glad I 've provoked you to action. By all means, do this. And please understand, I am not trying to be sarcastic. I truly believe you have the utmost obligation to bring to light the illegal actions you've seen done. But please, do just that: bring them to light! So far, from your postings and Eli's, all I've read are vague accusations and second-hand observations, with nothing backing them up. Where, when, who and what. Believe it or not, I'm on the same side. But let's not make general accusations and intend them to apply across the board. We all know that's not fair. By trying to label a whole group as "corrupt" you are putting honest, working people's livelihood in jeopardy, and casting a pall over folks who have nothing to do with what you are saying is unethical behavior. Your net is too wide. Be specific in what is being done illegally so as not to label everyone in said group with such accusations. I promise you this: if you bring out specific irregularities, with facts, I will be the first person to back you up. Check my past posts. I'm all for weeding out what's bad. Let's just not hurt or demean the people who are working an honest eight hours.

Posted by: Stan | January 23, 2008 11:58 PM

Seems like an easy fix. If the custodial and maintenance contract is 1.4 million, and the energy management program is saving 1.0 million, then why not re-invest a portion of these savings into a few program enhancements:

1. Source a Third-party consultant (3 good firms perform this), to conduct an objective audit of the program by reconciling national cleaning standards/frequencies against campus space inventories and building use assumptions. Re-engineer custodial assignments based on this data. Adjust staffing pattern as warranted.
2. Utilize a Training specialist to enhance technical skills and productivity. Validate competencies via staff certification process.
3. Assign an HR Labor Relations Officer to facilitate grievance resolution and improve morale.
4. Amend service contract to be performance-based. Source an objective third-party QA Auditing Firm to perform monthly inspections against established performance criteria with incentive and deduct provisions.

These are standard strategies within the industry to address and improve deliverables.

Stan

Posted by: Stan | January 25, 2008 6:28 PM

CEDARHILLRESIDENT wrote:

"but haven't alot of city's fired Aramark...Why would we use a company that no other city wants??? They most of got rid of them for a good reason. Get rid of them! Keep these jobs as local civil servant jobs! We know they are far from saving us money. And the quality is low..and they keep tacking on more expenses."

Response:

With all due respect, this is an irresponsible option. Administering a school district is still a business with goals of excellant student outcomes. What responsible Administrator would replace a performing contractor who creates value; especially in these trouble economic times.

An outscourced business services company like Aramark is generating significant value from their novel energy managment program; realizing a million dollars in cost savings. Thus, the actual annualized custodial & maintainace costs is a mere $400,000.

Facility contractors nationwide, produce sizable cost savings thru more efficient operations, advanced technology, economies of scale, purchasing power, extensive resource talent, and lower comparative management costs. Utilization of civil service managerial staff is typically wrought with inefficiency and snails-pace bureaucracy. This former model has been replaced decades ago.

There are a myriad of alternate practical options to resolve these current minor issues. Firing the Vendor is like "killing the messenger". These Vendors are generally just middlemen caught between complex community financial challenges - related to budgets and tax bases.

Posted by: Stan | January 26, 2008 7:38 AM

Building Costs Deal Blow to Local Budgets

State and local governments in many parts of the country are struggling to pay for roads, bridges and other building projects because of rising construction costs, adding another burden to budgets already stressed by the troubled housing market.

The problems have come as many governments pursue ambitious projects to improve roads and airports, build schools and upgrade long-neglected water and sewer systems. Many of the projects were conceived when money from property, sales and income taxes was steady and interest rates low, but officials say the ground has shifted beneath their feet.

"Everybody's scared," said Uche Udemezue, director of engineering and transportation for San Leandro, Calif., which will soon put out a request for construction bids on a retiree center and a parking garage. "You don't know what you're going to find when you go out to bid."
Nationwide, increasing costs first became a problem for some projects more than two years ago, and in some regions the rate of increase has dropped in the past year. But some regions are tighter than ever, and the pressure from the high costs can be more acute in the context of general revenue declines.

The list of culprits for the increases often depends on the rate of growth and construction in a particular region, with labor costs playing a role along with the rising prices of materials like steel and concrete, and asphalt, fuel and other petroleum-based products.

The costs have added to what has become an increasingly bleak economic forecast for many states and local governments. At least 25 states expect to have budget deficits in 2009, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which estimates the combined budget shortfall for 17 of the states at $31 billion or more. Many cities, too, see difficult times ahead as revenues wane and costs increase for wages, pensions and health care.

"We're talking about all levels of government being in some revenue constraints at a time when the service costs aren't going down," said Chris Hoene, the director of policy and research for the National League of Cities.