Laura Glesby file photo
Supt. Negrón: Still need to work thru "some concerns that have been brought forward related to unionized workers."
The Board of Education voted to table a new part-time custodial contract worth $5.4 million Tuesday as the city’s public school district tries to better understand the potential union-worker impact of switching vendors.
School board members made that decision to delay a final vote Tuesday during the board’s latest regular meeting, held in person at John C. Daniels School and online via Zoom.
The agreement on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting — and ultimately tabled by the full board — was endorsed earlier this month by the Board of Education’s Finance and Operations committee. It is a one-year deal with the Ohio-based Integrity Concepts LLC Inc. which does business under the name Service Master Elite Janitorial Services.
This New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) contract would be for part time custodial services, and, if approved, would be in effect from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 at a cost of $5,455,601. It would include two one-year renewal options.
This year NHPS is paying its current part-time custodial contractor, SJ Services, a total of $5,978,259.25, which includes an additional $500,000 that the board agreed to pay the vendor for after-hour work completed this year on top of its original $5,478,259 agreement.
During the most recent Finance and Operations committee meeting, NHPS Asst. Supt. Paul Whyte told committee members that the Ohio-based company Service Master was selected based on pricing and its ability to provide an accurate employee attendance tracking system. The company also has an office in Bridgeport, he said.
Whyte mentioned that there were two lower bidders than Service Master, but NHPS went with the higher-bidding company because of its attendance-tracking system and its expected savings compared to this year of $100,000.
NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón urged the full Board of Education Tuesday to table the new agreement. She said she would first like to do her due diligence with “some concerns that have been brought forward related to unionized workers.”
When asked for further clarity on Negrón reason for pushing the item to be tabled, district spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent: “The union representing workers employed by the current contractor, SJ Services, wrote to express concern about the impact of a switch. The superintendent reached out to meet with them to hear their concerns more specifically. We want to make sure we’ve done our due diligence before asking the board to vote on the contract.”
NHPS, meanwhile, went out to bid this spring for a new part-time custodial services contractor, with the goal of having a new custodial crew start next school year. Click here to read more about the district’s recent concerns with current contractor SJ Services.