Custodial staff reduction raises concern

Tansy Velush

They’re trying to save money by not filling custodial positions,” said Omar Kaufmann.

The custodial staff are facing reductions due to Seattle Public Schools’ (SPS) $104 million budget shortfall. Young Wong, head custodian with over seven years of experience at BHS and a total of 38 years with SPS, shared his perspective on the district’s sudden decision. 

“There’s no choice for us,” Wong said. “This comes from the school management, and we tried talking to them, but they told us it’s because they have no money. We just need to adjust to it. Go with the flow.” 

The school, which typically employs nine custodial staff members, now has only five full-time workers and four part-time workers following two staff reductions. The part-time custodians split their hours between BHS and another school, increasing the workload for full-time staff. 

“Full-time staff work for eight hours, and the part-time staff only work four hours at Ballard,” Wong said. “They work at another school before coming here, so the full-time staff have more territory to clean. We used to have nine full-time custodians, each with their own areas, but now everyone has more to clean.” 

These changes began at the start of the school year in September, following the implementation of SPS’s “Well-Resourced Schools Plan,” which aims to address the district’s budget shortfall by 2025.  With this proposal in place, teachers now also have the responsibility of keeping their classrooms after a shortage of custodians. 

“They’re trying to save money by not filling custodial positions,” said Omar Kaufmann, Union representative and geometry teacher. “They didn’t fire anyone but they moved a bunch of people around and never re-hired staff for empty positions because they’re trying to save money. They’re trying to shift responsibilities of keeping the room clean onto teachers and sometimes my trash just overflows. They’re making teachers and custodial staff who still work here to pick up the extra labor for free.”

Students have also noticed the impact of losing members of their school community and are staying informed about the situation. They believe the reduction will also negatively affect the overall environment at BHS. 

“I don’t think it’s fair to the janitors, and even if the added strain isn’t immediately obvious, it’ll become apparent over time and put additional stress on those still working full hours,” junior Charlie Stockton said. “Janitors are important community members, and I feel like this will negatively affect the students and the entire Ballard community going forward.”