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New contractor to take over Newberry County school custodial services on Dec. 1 amid staffing and equipment questions
Summary
The Buds Group told the Newberry County Board of Trustees it will assume custodial operations Dec. 1, with staged manager onboarding in November and a commitment to local supervision; board members pressed the contractor on staffing continuity, equipment delivery and service levels.
The board heard from the district’s new custodial contractor, the Buds Group, which will assume custodial operations for Newberry County Schools on Dec. 1. Jay Streets, branch manager for the Buds Group, said the company has a local support team and plans staged onboarding: manager training will begin mid-November and equipment deliveries are scheduled to begin Nov. 10 to Newberry Elementary.
Joel Martin, assistant branch manager, told trustees the company is about 94% staffed with six weeks to go and that the implementation will include account managers and two zone managers so no one manager is responsible for many schools. “We will never quit hiring people,” Martin said, adding the contractor expects some turnover during the startup but will provide support and training.
Board members pressed the contractor on concrete timelines, supervision and supply availability. A board member asked whether bathroom supplies and routine resupply would be maintained if custodians were absent; the Buds Group replied supplies are housed at schools and managers will manage resupply and scheduling. Streets said floor refinishing work would likely occur over the summer, with custodial teams focusing on bathrooms and cleaning during the December implementation window.
Trustees also discussed accountability and local oversight. Streets said the company will implement job cards and procedural compliance checks and asked staff to flag problems during the rollout. “If you see something, say something, and then we have to know about it so that we can fix something,” he said.
Questions at the meeting also raised equipment needs; the contractor said tractor-trailer shipments of new equipment are expected in November and that service contracts for equipment maintenance are in place. Board members requested follow-up and a spring check-in; the board said the vendor will be invited back in the spring for progress monitoring and a short-term update.
The board did not take a formal procurement vote at this meeting; the presentation served as the contractor’s introduction and an opportunity for trustees to ask implementation questions.
