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Webster Groves presentation finds custodial staffing shortfalls, recommends phased hires and preventive maintenance
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Summary
Facilities staff told the board the district is operating below industry cleaning standards in some buildings and recommended adding custodial and maintenance FTEs and administrative supervisors; the presentation estimated multi‑phase costs and identified outsourcing and recruitment challenges.
Jason, the district facilities lead, told the Webster Groves School Board that a recent program evaluation found the district operating “between APPA level 4, moderate dinginess, to level 5” in several buildings, with some sites showing major accumulations and deferred preventive maintenance. He said the root cause is capacity, not staff performance, and recommended a phased staffing approach to reach APPA level 3 as a baseline for routine cleanliness and safety.
The review, which drew on a district survey and APPA benchmarking, documented common problems including sticky tables, dirty floors, unstocked restrooms, broken equipment and overgrown fields. Jason said custodial coverage at the high school requires each custodian to clean more than 30,000 square feet per night, and that the district needs about six additional full‑time custodial positions to reach the immediate staffing target; maintenance staffing was also noted as short of the district’s target (six on staff with seven approved, aiming for 10). “We are deferring critical preventive maintenance just to handle the day to day,” Jason said, arguing that additional staff would let the district move from reactionary work orders to preventive care.
Why it matters: Board members and staff framed the findings as an equity and safety issue that disproportionately affects older, high‑traffic buildings such as the high school and Hixson Middle School. The report connected staffing shortfalls to employee burnout and turnover and noted that contracted vendors for mowing and HVAC are currently used to fill gaps where in‑house capacity is lacking.
Public comment and examples: During the public comment period, Greg Heard, who identified himself as a teacher and resident, described ongoing cleanliness problems in his classroom and elsewhere: “The trash gets emptied, the recycling gets taken out, and that’s it,” he said, asking the board to consider changes to supervision and rotation so rooms and common spaces receive consistent cleaning.
Costs and short‑term options: Board members asked about price estimates for temporary deep cleans; staff reported vendor quotes in the range of $10,000–$20,000 per day for high‑school deep cleaning and said a full high‑school deep program could range roughly $150,000–$300,000 depending on scope and duration. On hiring costs, staff gave a ballpark of roughly $45,000–$55,000 per added FTE (salary plus benefits vary by role) and pointed to difficulty recruiting certain technician roles, especially HVAC, which has been vacant for at least a year.
Next steps: The presentation proposed a three‑phase approach — stabilization (add FTE to reach APPA level 3), implement preventive maintenance, then measure improvements and pursue further improvements — and recommended budget approval to staff up and to set clearer expectations for building administrators. Staff also will pursue an asset study and follow up on recommended hires and supervisory changes.
The board did not take a formal vote on a staffing allocation during the meeting; members asked staff to return with cost options and prioritized short‑term deep‑clean scenarios to consider in upcoming budget discussions.
