Bridgeport facilities staff warn of shrinking budget, staffing shortfalls; several capital projects moved to full board

Bridgeport School District facilities leaders told the Board of Education’s facilities committee on Feb. 12 that the department is handling growing deferred maintenance with fewer staff and flatter operating dollars while pursuing energy upgrades and grants.

The stewardship report, presented by George Garcia and finance manager Jamie McCarville, showed the district manages 41 facilities (about 3,700,000 square feet across roughly 302 acres) and has seen staff reductions that leave daily operations strained. “The basis of the stewardship report is to give everyone a good understanding of what it is the department does,” Garcia said.

The presentation framed three immediate pressures: (1) reduced staffing after layoffs, (2) rising utility costs this winter, and (3) capital needs uncovered in facilities assessments. Jamie McCarville summarized operating dollars and year-over-year declines: “This year, we have $185,000. 10 years ago, we had $389,000,” she said when comparing custodial-supply budgets across a decade. McCarville told the committee that—after subtracting utilities and regulatory compliance—the department’s discretionary operating funds amount to “less than $10,000 per school to repair every single year.”

Staffing and operations

Garcia and other presenters described how the district’s staffing has fallen from historic levels. The report lists a current custodial staffing budgeted at 150 workers (down from a higher 180 ideal and from previous levels), and Garcia said the department was previously reduced by 10 maintainer layoffs. He described pervasive single-custodian daytime coverage in many buildings, overtime usage and second-shift workers staying later into the night to complete building readiness for the next school day.

The trades group has also shrunk: Garcia said trades staffing dropped from 19 to 17 after layoffs that included a painter and an electrician. He said the district now has no available painter because one position was laid off and the other employee is on…