County School Custodial Company Raises Wages To $13 An Hour, But It May Lose Contract

  • Thursday, October 8, 2020

The firm that has provided custodial services for Hamilton County for the past 15 years has raised wages from $10 per hour to $13 per hour to try to attract and retain workers.

Officials of ABM said it has been difficult through the COVID pandemic to keep employees to clean the schools.

They said the higher pay is working and they are approaching full staffing of 603 workers.

The firm recently sent out a letter of apology for not maintaining high cleanliness standards in the schools.

School Board member Tucker McClendon said the company has not lived up to expectations over a lengthy period.

ABM officials said they were asked by former County Schools Maintenance Director Gary Waters to help the schools save 20 percent on custodial.

They said going forward that school systems are going to have to pay more to get expected top services rather than just focusing on "low bid."

Also, employees need to be making a "living wage" to retain any continuity, it was stated.

Justin Robertson, county schools chief operating officer, said requests for proposals have gone out seeking to get a variety of options from custodial companies.

He said selections will be made after the first of the year, and changes will take place June 1.

Mr. Robertson said an option to be offered is that companies can bid just on a particular set of learning centers. He said that may attract some smaller, local firms.

He said one criteria will be the hiring of minority employees.

 

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