SAUGUS — Rick Nelson has spent nearly two decades as a custodian, caring for Saugus High School and its inhabitants. But he’s worried he’ll lose his job at the end of this school year.
Contracts for the school district’s 20 custodians are set to expire on June 30 and members of Local 262 believe their jobs will be lost to privatization.
Jeannie Meredith, chairwoman of the School Committee, declined to comment on the issue, citing ongoing contract negotiations with the union.
A search on CommBuys.com, the state’s online procurement platform that links public purchasers in search of products and services with vendors able to provide them, resulted in a bid solicitation document.
According to the document, “Saugus Public Schools seeks to obtain proposals for custodial/light maintenance services for its School Buildings.” It listed a bid opening date of April 1.
It instructs respondents to email Bonnie Tanner, a purchasing manager for the town, for a copy of the request for proposals.
The Item requested a copy of the RFP through email Tuesday, in addition to filing a public records order under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Neither had been answered as of deadline.
“When you privatize services, you replace a guy like Rick — a custodian, a caretaker — with a cleaning crew,” said Jim Durkin, legislative director of AFSCME Council 93. “You’re losing a guy like Rick and replacing him with what amounts to a revolving door of strangers.”
AFSCME Council 93 represents more than 45,000 state, county and municipal employees in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Durkin is challenging the School Committee and Superintendent Dr. David DeRuosi to provide the union with a copy of the bid. He hopes to review it with ample time to complete an analysis before a public hearing.
Like many of his colleagues, Nelson’s days start at 5 a.m. He unlocks doors, ensures the heat is working, and provides teachers with printer paper and other supplies.
“By then, kids come in and there are usually some spills,” he said.
Anomalies pop up throughout the day. Custodians are tasked with shoveling out all 48 exterior doors at the high school each time it snows. They are there to let a teacher into the building after he locks himself out, and to fix the stove in the cafeteria when it won’t light, said Nelson.
To prove to administrators that the school had a problem with recurring vandalism, he documented and photographed every incident for three months. The log filled a 3-inch binder, he said.
While these tasks aren’t listed on a custodian’s job description, they do it because they care about the school and the community, he said.
“Custodian means something like ‘guardian’ in Latin,” said Richard A. Fioravanti, a retired custodian who worked with the district for 40 years. “We know the building, we know what works and what doesn’t work.”
Fioravanti, 63, attended Saugus High School. He started working as a custodian for the building at 23 and retired with 80 percent of his pension.
If Nelson were to retire at the end of the year, he would receive about 39 percent of his pension, he said.
Meredith said she was unsure about when information about the potential move toward outsourcing custodial services would be available.
“They want to do it as quickly and quietly as possible,” said Durkin. “They know what they’re doing is wrong.”
