Director outlines custodial staffing level shortfalls and ISSA/ISAA cleaning benchmarks

The Director of Maintenance presented a detailed accounting of custodial staffing, contract floats and cleaning standards tied to ISSA/ISAA benchmarks and recommended board recognition of custodial leadership.

He said the Riverside campus totals roughly 275,000 square feet across the board office, high school, media center and John R Williams and listed campus assets: 89 classrooms, 37 bathrooms and multiple gyms and cafeterias. Applying ISSA/ISAA Level 3 cleaning metrics (19,000–25,000 sq ft per custodian in an 8-hour shift), he calculated the campus would need approximately 12.7 custodians at a Level 3 standard and up to 18.96 at a Level 2 standard.

Districtwide, the director said the custodial team comprises 31 contracted full-time custodians with an average tenure around 10 years; he described floats, night crews, a Saturday coverage pattern and one contracted night float who covers campus needs. He said custodians handle extensive nightly tasks — "we have 252 classrooms ... 6,048 chairs that get moved and cleaned" — and praised staff performance: "they knock it out of the park."

Board discussion covered vacancy management, weekend coverage rates for community use and potential adjustments to user fees to better recover custodial costs. Members suggested formal recognition during PD days and asked administration to consider modest staffing increases tied to new preschool classes and expanded square footage.

Next steps: administration will return with any staffing proposals tied to enrollment/preschool changes, and the board will plan a recognition opportunity for custodial leadership at a staff PD event or August presentation.