The unions representing New Westminster support staff and teachers want daytime custodians to stay in local schools next year.
The New Westminster school district originally cut the daytime custodian positions in the 2016/17 school year, but the positions were returned to schools for 2020/21 in the face of COVID-19.
CUPE Local 409, which represents custodians and other support staff in the district, hopes the daytime shifts can continue into the next school year.
Local president Marcel Marsolais made the pitch to trustees as part of his presentation on the district’s 2021/22 budget at the April 27 school board meeting.
“I’ve watched for the last 35 years on cleaning hours and positions and the elimination of day custodians by the former board,” he said. “We hope that can be maintained, but in order to do that, the overall cleaning hours need to be increased.”
New Westminster Teachers’ Union president Sarah Wethered also asked for daytime custodians to remain.
“It’s not a good use of an administrator’s time, nor should it be their job, to clean up student vomit or to clean up the bathrooms because of a lack of a custodians,” she said. “Day custodians provide another set of eyes and ears in a building and help us keep our schools safe and clean on a daily basis.”
Ken Millard, representing New Westminster principals and vice-principals, said daytime custodians have been “integral” in keeping schools clean and disinfected this year.
“We would recommend continuing the daytime custodians for the short term. How long that is, I’m not sure; it might be Christmas or whenever we feel it’s safe, when the pandemic is ending,” he said.
Kathleen Carlsen, representing the New Westminster DPAC (district parent advisory council), also backed the call for daytime custodians to remain in schools.
All the comments came during budget submissions to the board from stakeholder groups, part of the school district’s 2021/22 budget process.
Superintendent Karim Hachlaf will be bringing budget recommendations to the board at its May 11 committee meeting, and the budget is expected to be passed at the May 25 school board meeting.
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