School custodian numbers don't add up

The superintendent of schools recently stated that the district only hired eight custodians for the new high school to allow for a full-time  performing arts technician. However, the school district did not hire any additional maintenance personnel and has not added any in more than three years, despite the construction of the high school and given its size.

Furthermore,  the school district has retained the same number of custodians in all of the schools including the grade schools, which are now K-4, the junior high, which only has grades 7-9 now, and the middle school that houses just the fifth and sixth grades.

Also, the school district continues to employ two head custodian positions at the junior high and two at the middle school, despite the decrease in the number of students and after-school activities in each building — particularly the middle school, which no longer has interscholastic sports with the elimination of grades seven and eight.

Is there really a need for two head custodian positions, which pay $30,000 per year each, in a school that only has two grade levels now? Is there a need for two head custodians in the junior high now that it only has three grade levels instead of four?

Since the school district did not see a need to add any maintenance positions, even though a new high school was built, could it be that the maintenance department may have already been overstaffed long before the construction of the new school?

These are some of the questions to think about when it comes time for school board elections. The board is responsible not only for voting to increase our taxes, but also for hiring those who have made questionable decisions.

Scott Jones
Job coach
Sedalia