Archive for Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Contracted cleaning way to go for 2 schools

By Jesse Truesdale

September 17, 2008

Last month the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville School District learned it's cheaper to hire a cleaning company than to employ in-house custodians for night cleaning of the district's elementary schools.

But the same isn't true for all of the district's schools, according to John Scheurer, supervisor of maintenance and custodial services for the district.

Scheurer compiled a report on the price of contracting cleaning companies for the district's public schools versus employing in-house custodians for the job.

In the report, Scheurer writes that employing contracted cleaners for evening and night cleaning at all the district's school, excluding the elementary schools, wouldn't be feasible, because "there are too many activities and the people need to be extremely flexible to handle the many demands of each building."

Also, Scheurer said he wouldn't recommend contracting with a private company for Bonner Springs Elementary, as had been done and was approved at the same meeting for Edwardsville Elementary, because "everyone is very happy with the custodial staff and things are going smoothly in their building."

The district had contracted with PCI Building Services to clean Delaware Ridge Elementary for the 2007-08 school year for $7,234 per month, and renewed the contract for the current school year at $8,415 per month. That compares to a cost of $10,038 per month to clean Edwardsville Elementary last year and an estimated $10,490 this year.

These costs don't include the prices of cleaning chemicals or equipment, and PCI brings its own. The two schools are of comparable size, with 65,377 square feet at Delaware Ridge, and 73,683 square feet at Edwardsville Elementary.

Because the district was having trouble finding a lead custodian for Edwardsville Elementary, the school board in August approved a motion authorizing a contract with PCI for the school. One of the current employees there will serve as head custodian, employed by the district, and work there during the school day, while PCI employees will clean at night.

Comments