BURTON SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES CUSTODIAL CONTRACT, EXTENDS STAFF CONTRACTS
The Burton School Board approved a contract for custodial services at its meeting Monday.
Trustees agreed to a contract with ABM for $135,420. The contract includes three employees, in addition to the two custodial employees already in Burton ISD, and services including cleaning, supplies and insurance. Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy said current district employees will maintain the same employment structure.
Dr. Kennedy said in November that ABM, which is also utilized by Brenham ISD, would “do a culture change” for the district’s custodial services, making them “more efficient” through training, equipment and other materials.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the board approved several contract extensions for staff members. The contracts of Athletic Director Jason Hodde, along with Elementary and High School Principals Melinda Fuchs and Matthew Wamble, were extended through 2023. Additional contract extensions were approved for Assistant Principal Jeremy Johnston and Counselor Angela Rhodes through 2022. No adjustments were made to staff pay.
Trustees also approved the proposed calendar for the 2021-22 school year. The first day of school for students is Wednesday, August 18th. Students will have a full week off for Thanksgiving and two weeks for Christmas, with an early release day on December 17th and a return to class on January 4, 2022. Spring Break is March 14-18, 2022 and the final day of classes is May 19, 2022.
Click here to see the calendar for the 2021-22 school year.
The board also:
- Heard a bond update from Lucas Janda of Live Oak Public Finance. Janda told trustees to consider raising the debt service portion of its tax rate, which currently sits at 7.49 cents per $100 valuation, as it could help pay off the district’s debt sooner and potentially reduce the tax rate needed to fund a bond measure.
- Approved the purchase of a walk-in freezer for $33,049.
- Approved a proposal for services from Texas Sanitizer Pros LLC. The contract will be for once-a-month sanitation services for $1775 a month, and will run through the remainder of the school year.
- Approved a consulting agreement with Walker Quality Services for cafeteria services.
Dr. Kennedy expects ABM to “do a culture change” for the district’s custodial services.
One, the culture that was in place was established by the superintendent the past SIX years. The expectations, the methods, even the chemicals were picked by her. Two, the lack of training in the past six years for the existing staff was the responsibility of the superintendent. Three, any lack of equipment would have been under the direct budget responsibility of the superintendent. With the loss of one particular maintenance person, there was no one to perform regular maintenance or purchase new power buffers and polishers for the buildings. The employee that replaced the other employee claims to not be responsible for custodians, their equipment or supplies. As for the chemicals used the superintendent picked a new provider that sells different chemicals. The old provider taught the staff how to use his chemicals and what equipment to use and how to use it. The new person provides different chemicals, no training, and offers no input on equipment. Four, the pleas for additional staff during the summer went unheeded by the superintendent. That left some areas uncleaned for prolonged periods. THAT is what the Board member smelled when he was at the school over the sumner. That decision was made by the superintendent to pull custodians to different areas. It was the superintendent’s decision to not hire extra workers during the summer. It kept the custodians from their usual cleaning rounds, causing unclean restrooms to reek whole buildings. Five, the existing staff was down one person for extended periods of time because no one would post vacancies in a timely manner. They covered as best they could, but there were gaps that led to trash, dirty floors and unclean restrooms for two to three days at a time. Six, the existing custodial staff worked during the Christmas break, while another employee on the same schedule did not. This caused resentment in the custodial staff. Seven, the existing custodial staff had areas they were responsible for. When the principals directed them to clean another custodians area, they balked. The principals complained and the custodians were written up and one was told to hand in their keys. Eight, when a Board member intervened and overturned the superintendent’s decision, within a month she started taking bids for cleaning services. Nine, when the Board member asked the superintendent if she had discussed the possibility of hiring a cleaning service, she told him yes. That was untrue. Ten, when the custodians heard of the untruth, they went to the Board member saying there had been no meeting. They were concerned about losing health benefits, retirement and jobs. The Board was discouraged from meeting with the custodians. The Board President was informed, but stood alone and the superintendent had his ear alone. The custodians expressed their lack of trust in the superintendent. That put the leadership of the superintendent in question. The Board President AGAIN, chose to believe the superintendent, instead of investigating for the truth. The superintendent was told he must support the superintendent, without a full understanding of what was going on. THAT is the culture created by the superintendent
Most often Employees do not leave their jobs because of the work, they leave because of the lack of trust in the leadership.
I am glad to see you are keeping 2 custodial workers currently employed. I do not think it was a necessity to hire a janitorial crew. Instead of Mrs. Kennedy and other personnel asking/telling the custodial workers what to do she rather hire a company to the whooping $135,420. I sure wish we could ALL vote on Mrs. Kennedy’s contract which I have never understood why we cannot. We vote on school board seats.