Board makes decision to privatize custodians
Pritchard Industries awarded contract in Marlboro schools
BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - The Board of Education was caught between an emotional plea and a financial responsibility last week when the privatization of custodial services was approved.

For weeks the board had been listening to the emotional pleas of teachers, parents and custodians regarding the importance of retaining Marlboro's in-house janitorial staff. Issues such as children's safety and loyalty to the employees were the key points reiterated by the public.

However, faced with flat funding from the state, rising property taxes and increasing enrollment, district administrators have been searching for ways to reduce expenses without affecting educational programs.

The latest effort to save money by outsourcing custodial services was unanimously approved by the board on May 23. At a cost of $809,741, hiring Pritchard Industries will save the district $1.4 million in the 2006-07 school year and almost $2 million the following school year, administrators said.

According to officials, the board was under a time constraint to come to a decision on the matter because the bids which were received in March from three companies were due to expire on May 31 and the in-house custodial contract was due to expire on June 30.

Board President Terry Spilken said that due to those circumstances, the time to negotiate with the district's custodians was limited.

Contract negotiations began on May 10 and ended 30 minutes before the board meeting on May 23 when the custodians' union representative rejected the board's offer. The offer included a 15 percent salary reduction with no salary increases over the life of the contract (three years) and employee health coverage only, according to Business Adminis-trator Cindy Barr-Rague.

The average custodian in Marlboro currently makes between $35,000 and $50,000 a year and many have full family medical benefits, Barr-Rague said. The Monmouth County salary average for custodians is between $28,000 and $48,000 a year.

According to the terms of the agreement with Pritchard Industries, the firm is required to offer employment to the 35 custodians currently employed by the district before considering other applicants.

However, custodian Theresa Piccolo said most of the Marlboro staff would not work for minimum wage because they have families to support.

Barr-Rague said she believes the employees of Pritchard Industries will be hired at $8 an hour with no medical benefits.

Another provision of the agreement with Pritchard Industries is to retain the services of the eight head custodians as district employees, who would supervise the rest of the staff.

Barr-Rague said this was done because those individuals are the "eyes and ears in the buildings." The head custodian takes on the responsibility for what is going on in the school, she added.

The head custodians are Bruce Jones, Marlboro Early Learning Center, Charlie Wilson, Marlboro Elementary School, Todd McNeill, Robertsville Elementary School, John Lewis, Frank J. Dugan Elementary School, Tom Molyreux, Frank Defino Central Elementary School, Frank Cullens, Asher Holmes Elementary School, Mike MacDonald, Marlboro Middle School, and Jim Higley, Marlboro Memorial Middle School.

Following the meeting on May 23, many board members said this was the toughest decision they had to make as elected officials.

Murray Hoffman said the board members did not enter into this decision lightly.

"We agonized over this," he said.

Spilken said the board members could not respond to the emotional aspect of the issue and said the custodians' work ethic was never the issue. He said this was always a financial issue.

"We're just trying to tread water and stay even," Spilken said regarding the financial constraints facing the district.

Board Vice President Joe Waldman said if people are looking for a cause for this particular action, they need to look to their state legislators who passed a law (referred to as S-1701) that limits school spending and to the state judges who approved the Abbott v. Burke school funding decisions.

"That's what's destroying us," Waldman said.

Superintendent of Schools David Abbott said that on a personal level he has a tremendous amount of compassion for the custodians, but as the superintendent, he has to balance that with the issues facing the district. Although he said he feels the weight of the board's decision, he believes it is in the best interest of the district's future to outsource custodial services.

Township Councilman Jeff Cantor agreed with the sentiments of the board members and said, "It's very sad to see all these fine people lose their jobs. It's a shame for anyone to lose their job, especially due to budget cuts. I blame this on the state legislators and representatives who have failed to fix the problems so this wouldn't happen. It's a sad day in Marlboro."

Board member Isaac Levy noted that 12 years ago when the district outsourced its cafeteria services, similar concerns were brought up by members of the public. Levy said in looking back on that issue now, he believes it was the right decision due to the financial savings and the quality of service received.

As for the question of safety and security, Abbott said the background checks on potential Pritchard Industries employees will be carefully reviewed and the district will ensure that there is no glitch in the process.

"We will build these people into our culture over time," he added.

To the parents and teachers who were concerned about the children, Spilken said no one should be instilling fear in the students' minds that the buildings are not safe.

"We are not sacrificing safety and security, we are sacrificing the known for the unknown," the board president added.