As many of you are aware, the school superintendent and the School Committee are in the process of privatizing the custodians. These custodians have worked here for anywhere between 10 to 30 years.
They are all dedicated employees who care about the other staff members and your children. I have been at the high school for 19 years and I am proud to say that we have never lost one day of school because of a faulty boiler or flooded room or anything like that. We have always taken care of the problem.
Also, we have never lost a day of school because of any infectious disease outbreak such as MRSA or staph. When the private custodial company comes in, I am sure they will not be able to say the same thing.
Custodians handle building security whether it is locking doors and windows or stopping strangers who have entered the building from a door that has been propped open. Over the years, I have escorted strangers out of the building numerous times. One time in particular, I stopped a guy in the hall who was visibly under the influence of drugs. As I escorted him out, he told me that he thought he was in the mall.
We called police and he was arrested on many warrants. My point is that with us here, there are problems, without us here, your child’s safety is at risk. So I would ask all parents to contact the superintendent and school committee members to tell them that this is unacceptable.
Two years ago they privatized the cafeteria workers. Now the custodians. Who’s next … paraprofessionals? Clerks? Teachers?
Rick Nelson
AFSCME 262
Executive Board member
