When Jeff Grabell, a teacher at Dutch Neck Elementary, holds a “Star Party” for his students and their parents at the school, he leans on the custodial staff to help him set it up.
For starters, the night-time star-gazing event requires the assembly of telescopes as well as the outside lights to be turned off. One of the custodians helped him build the telescope and determined how to shut the lights off for the night.
On a separate occasion, the same worker helped Grabell construct a bookshelf. And he even served as a judge in a contest the teacher was holding in class one day, much to his students’ excitement.
“It’s hard to imagine an outsourced employee knowing which switches turned off the outside lights,” said Grabell. “We need custodians and foremen who know our buildings, know our kids, know our programs. Please don’t take them away from us.”
Grabell was among a handful of teachers who, in addition to members of the custodial and foreman staff and union, attended the board’s October 27 meeting to protest the possibility that the 100 workers might be replaced with the services of an outside company.
The meeting marks the second time in a month that the members of the two unions representing the employees crowded the board’s meeting to protest the possibility the board will replace them with a private company.
The news broke last month that the board is looking into the move as part of a cost savings review and has solicited the services of Edvocate Inc., a Toms River-based consulting company, to study the possibility of outsourcing the work. Edvocate has provided the district with a packet titled, “Facilities Program Modeling/Assessment, Outsourcing Process and Monitoring Services Proposal.” The packet sets a 10-month time line, that calls for a decision on the matter and a bidding process to begin in January. School board members said they have not reviewed the issue, or the report.
Kathleen Schmidt, a Town Center teacher for 10 years, said Cliff Jones, a custodian at her school was helpful in her goal of teaching model behavior. He respected himself, respected others, and contributed to the safe environment at the school. On Halloween, he even dresses as Clifford the Dog for the children. And one time, he offered her one of his cold bottles of water during a hot day in the classroom.
“Anybody can wipe tables,” Schmidt said. “It takes very special people, like Mr. Jones, to make that job more.” That won’t happen, she said, with employees from a private company.
Jon Brady, a custodian in the district and a single father, said he understands the district’s reputation for maintaining excellence because he attended its schools. He said he took great pride in the work he performed and said that the appearance of the grounds and buildings contributed to the schools’ good reputation.
The custodial and foreman staff in the district help to “keep the environment peaceful and running smoothly,” he said, adding that he believed it is “our consistent presence that makes our environment safe and comfortable.”
Other custodians echoed the sentiment during the meeting, including Cliff Jones, who said he was concerned and hurt that the board would even consider outsourcing the workers. “We are thankful for being here,” he said. “At Town Center, we work together to get things done.”
After the public comment, board president Hemant Marathe repeated his comments from the previous school board meeting that the board has not made any decision. It still hasn’t seen the report from Edvocate, and the timeline for a decision on the matter was set by the consulting company, not the board, Marathe emphasized.
