Fountain Hills board approves one‑year pilot contract with Delta t Group for middle‑school custodial services

The Fountain Hills Unified School District governing board on Monday authorized a one‑year contract with Delta t Group to provide third‑party custodial services at the district’s middle school.

Board members and district staff described the contract as a pilot so the district can “beta test” whether outside custodial services provide more reliable daily staffing than the current model. Mister Flynn, who spoke to the board about the proposal, said the contractor would guarantee daily staff assignments and cover absences, while the district would retain the ability to cancel the agreement with 30 days’ notice.

District facilities staff put the roll‑up average hourly cost for contracted custodians at about "$23 and change," including benefits and employer taxes. The superintendent and facilities director emphasized the pilot is intended to address persistent FMX facilities requests and uneven coverage at the middle school; the high school and elementary school were described as fully staffed under the district’s square‑footage model.

Several trustees pressed district staff on two points: whether the middle school would be unfairly favored by a single‑school pilot and whether current custodial employees would lose their jobs. The facilities director said he did not "contemplate having let any of our current staff go" and that existing employees could be repurposed to other roles such as transportation. Trustees also discussed using the pilot to evaluate a district‑wide approach.

The motion to authorize the contract carried by voice vote with one recorded no vote from speaker 1. The board directed staff to limit the contract term and treat it as a trial; members asked for a short contract window so the district can reassess before committing long‑term.

The board did not release the full vendor contract in the public meeting; trustees said they had seen draft language and requested that the final contract include a limited end date and allow the district to cancel without extended obligation if the pilot proved ineffective.