The Current Custodian Complications in ICSD

As students, we mostly pay attention to those we interact
with. Our minds are occupied with friends, parents,
teachers—people whose actions are at the forefront of our
routines. We often fail to acknowledge those who work behind
the scenes. The custodians at IHS arrive every day in three shifts,
cleaning classrooms, dusting, mopping, taking out the garbage,
and ensuring that our school environment is clean, safe, and
optimal for learning. This essential work deserves recognition,
and, importantly, good working conditions and compensation.
With all of the hard work that custodians do, they’re severely
underpaid. Custodians at IHS are currently paid a starting rate of
14.89 dollars an hour. To put this number into perspective, living
wage in Ithaca for one person with no children is 18.76 dollars.
Additionally, minimum wage is 13.20 dollars, only 1.69 dollars less
than their hourly wage. With an hourly rate about four dollars
below the living wage in Ithaca, custodians might have to take up
a second job to support themselves and their families. In the
surrounding school districts, custodial staff are paid significantly
more, as Groton’s entry level hourly wage stands at 17.50 dollars
an hour, Trumansburg’s at 16.00 dollars, and Syracuse’s at 18.77
dollars. Not only are Syracuse City School District custodians paid
about four dollars higher per hour than the ICSD custodians,
Syracuse’s living wage is 16.36 dollars for one adult with no
children, making the disparity striking.
Another challenge that the thirteen custodial staff hired at IHS
experience is overage, which comes as a result of the school’s
unfilled positions. According to Scot Taylor, the district’s assistant
head custodian, there are 5 open positions district-wide and two
open at IHS specifically, with another job opening up soon.
Added with various absences like sick days or personal days, there
could be as many as four or five IHS custodians not currently
working at a given time. Scot Taylor mentioned that there were
“second shift workers covering third shift,” as absence and unfilled
positions create an endless cycle of custodians having to take on
more than they should. This, coupled with a turnover rate that
can reach as high as 10 employee changes a year, shows a serious
problem in custodial retention. Taylor said that COVID-19 is
partially to blame for this, as the pandemic has majorly increased
job opportunities and that the amount of unfilled positions has
increased in recent post-pandemic years. Taylor also cites low
pay as a reason for the abnormally high turnover rate.
In addition to low compensation and a high turnover rate, the
custodial staff are experiencing a wide range of other difficulties.
According to Jeff Holcomb, the head custodian at IHS,
custodians working at IHS have so many unacknowledged
roadblocks that they must face, that there are “too many to list.”
Custodians have the task of cleaning up the school after us—they
do everything from taking out the trash that we produce, to
getting rid off the graffiti students make, to cleaning the
bathrooms. In addition to their regular duties, they’re also
thrown additional responsibilities, such as the moving of all the
chairs and desks needed for exam weeks into the gym, and then
moving them back at the end of the week.
As students who benefit from the work custodians complete, it
is important that we aren’t actively contributing to their
workload. In a period of custodian shortages and absenteeism,
doing our part to clean up after ourselves is vital. Leaving the
bathrooms clean, picking up our lunch messes, and refraining
from using the walls as canvasses are actionable steps we can take
to mitigate these issues. We have a responsibility as a community
to help each other out in times of need.
While there are steps we can take, more substantial changes
would have to come from the Employees Association and the
District, who engage in bargaining to settle staff contracts. In
regards to the current salary, Taylor explains: “You can’t blame it
on the District, you can’t blame it on the Union, but you can
blame it on both of them.” The current custodian complications
throughout the district will only get worse if changes are not
made. Investing in the custodial staff is the solution to the current
high turnover rate, unfilled positions, and overage. ICSD must
prioritize securing a living wage for its custodians.