District reports custodial-vendor transition and maintenance staffing shortfalls

Operations staff told the committee that custodial services transitioned to three new vendors — Budd Group, ABM and Interstate — with final load-in Sept. 27 and full service beginning Oct. 1. Brandy Majors, the custodial/maintenance presenter, said administrators’ early feedback was positive and that vendors introduced management teams and began working with school principals.

Majors cautioned that staffing counts were not captured during the transition month but will be reported in November. She said the district is tracking maintenance work orders and that 2024 completion totals are lower than in prior years; the vendor is down approximately eight positions (including three HVAC technicians), which Majors said has affected the rate at which work orders are completed.

Majors described a recent school blitz at Joseph Shanklin Elementary, where teams completed water-fountain installs, pressure washing and sheetrock repairs. The committee and staff also discussed work-order prioritization and preventative maintenance: staff said life-safety and emergency work orders take precedence, while a designated second-shift preventive-maintenance crew handles much of the HVAC preventive work.

What’s next: staff will report vendor staffing levels and updated work-order metrics in the November report and continue recruitment and onboarding efforts for trade positions.