Community urges Pascack Valley board to keep custodial staff as district studies outsourcing

The Pascack Valley Regional High School District Board of Education heard an extended public outpouring on April 13 after the board said it was exploring "the potential outsourcing of certain positions" to address rising health-care costs and budget pressure.

The board president said the district is examining options to balance the 2026–27 budget and stressed that "at this stage, there have been no final decisions." The president told the room the district’s "health care adjustment for the 26–27 budget is $2 million over the previous," and framed outsourcing custodial work as one of several possible responses to projected increases in premiums. The president added the district would attempt, "to the best of our ability," to offer current custodial staff positions in any outsourcing proposal.

Why it matters: speakers — teachers, students and parents — said custodial staff provide more than cleaning services. They described custodians as familiar, trusted figures who help run after-hours activities, maintain athletic fields, assist students with safety issues and make small, often unseen repairs that keep schools operating. "Our custodians are the backbone and are the most important people at a school," said Navet Renjen, a junior and Rivervale resident. Student Min Chin told the board: "The custodial staff is integral in setting up and cleaning up these events."

Teachers and staff framed the issue as both financial and cultural. Sean Buchanan, a district employee since 2003, said privatizing custodial work may appear to save money "on paper" but could cost the district through lost institutional knowledge, decreased responsiveness for emergency needs and weakened relationships that boost safety. Parents and alumni offered similar examples, including custodians arriving early or staying late for sporting events and helping students during emergencies.

Board process and safeguards: the board emphasized the discussion was exploratory. The president said no hiring or contract negotiations had been finalized and reiterated that any proposal would seek to offer positions to current staff. The district also noted budget constraints tied to state funding rules and a health-care formula the speakers said cannot be adjusted until 2028.

Public comment and the record: the meeting’s public-comment period lasted more than an hour and included dozens of speakers — teachers, retired staff, parents, students and community members — who uniformly urged the board to prioritize custodial jobs and the relationships custodians build with students. Multiple speakers asked that the board pursue alternatives to privatization and work with the community on budget solutions.

What the board did: the board moved through consent and human-resources items and during the meeting a motion was made to table agenda item 4; the motion was seconded and members responded affirmatively on the record, though a full roll-call tally is not included in the transcript. No final decision on outsourcing was recorded.

Next steps: the board indicated the 2026–27 budget will be presented at the next meeting (April 27) and that negotiations and additional meetings will continue. Community members urged transparency and asked the board to share alternatives before moving forward.