“So, What Do They Do?”

When you hear the term “custodian,” what images are conjured up in your mind?  Cleaning?  Cleaning? Cleaning?  While cleaning is the mainstay of the custodian’s job, it also entails much more.  Like what?  Let us see.

During a typical workday, a custodian may do a variety of things.  If they are a head custodian, they have the primary job of organizing the rest of the custodial crew and making sure that everything around the school is taken care of.  Their job may also entail opening the building in the morning, taking radio calls on any number of problems or questions, scheduling events in the school, making sure that custodial help is available for extra events or events outside of the school day or handling repairs on such things as plumbing, electrical, wallboard, machines, lights, doors, floors or any number of items that are necessary to keep the building functioning.  They also help monitor or clean the lunchroom, coordinate various events and meetings with administrators and teachers, deal with problems, make phone calls to outside vendors for different needs, order supplies, coordinate work orders with maintenance, handle building specific maintenance and upkeep issues and more. 

Those custodians who work either a swing shift or night shift have the main responsibility of cleaning the entire building.  But more is involved than just cleaning.  They may have to set up for events, deal with the groups using the schools, clean their assigned areas, clean up after any sporting events, handle problems or emergencies at night, secure the building, prepare it for the next day’s activities and so on.  While the head custodian may organize and schedule all these events, the later shifts usually do the actual setting up and taking down of them while still working to handle and expedite their normal work requirements. 

Because of staffing and funding, the custodial staff usually cannot clean every room every night.  Most, if not all schools are cleaned on a rotation basis.  That means that rooms are cleaned every other night.  Depending on usage, some rooms are cleaned nightly, but most are rotated.  Bathrooms are always cleaned nightly, garbage is always dumped and hallways and entry windows are usually cleaned regularly.   When other events interrupt the nightly routine, especially sporting events most notably in the secondary schools, rooms may get knocked out of sync for a few days.  The custodians do their very best to accomplish all their cleaning and the handle the other interruptions throughout their shift, but it is often a huge challenge. 

“At least you get the breaks and summers off,” is an oft stated comment by many.  However, this is not the case.  Custodians are hired as 260 day employees which means they work year-round.  True, they do get all the holidays off and the Friday of spring break, but the rest of the time they are in the buildings working.  During breaks minor cleaning jobs may be done that can’t be done during the school week.  Painting may be done, maintenance items taken care of, HVAC filters changed and units checked and so on.  During the summer, the entire school is cleaned from one end to the other.  Rooms are cleaned top to bottom, carpets shampooed, floors stripped, polished or both, windows cleaned, furniture moved as required, rooms moved when necessary, maintenance of buildings done such as pressure-washing, painting in or out, HVAC filters changed and units inspected and maintained, pumps and motors greased and checked, repairs done, and more.  Often times, due to the usage in our schools, this must all be accomplished by working around summer school, outside groups, meetings, teachers coming and going, administrative needs and more.  That’s why the custodians are usually working to accomplish this huge task right up to the day school opens. 

As you can see, custodians do more than just clean.  They must be multi-talented, versatile, people-friendly, flexible and organized.  To accomplish all that must be done and to keep the school buildings presentable for all users, the custodians do their very best to make everyone happy!