CCSD board asked to revisit outsourcing custodial services
In a litmus test of the state-mandated Clark County School District reorganization, a school leadership team is asking the School Board to reconsider its rejection of principals’ request to hire outside vendors for custodial services.
Both the Parent-Teacher Association and the school organizational team (SOT) at Stanford Elementary School signed a letter to the school board this week asking for more autonomy for their principal to “improve our school environment.”
“It is unfortunate that our current system makes it difficult to ensure that our school be cleaned properly and puts an unnecessary burden on others. We want to correct this,” the letter states. “We want to empower our principal to make these decisions.”
The letter asks the board to adhere to the intent of the legislation that mandated the district reorganization, an effort to put more decision-making ability in the hands of principals and school organizational teams.
Last week, the school board failed to vote on a draft request for proposals, effectively killing the pilot program that would have allowed outside custodial companies the opportunity to contract with 10 schools — Stanford among them. The schools hoped to save money by using their custodial budgets to hire the outside companies instead of relying on district custodians.
Board members were concerned with outsourcing custodial jobs, although member Carolyn Edwards said the board should seriously consider proposals brought forward by principals. It’s hard to evaluate whether something is a good idea or not, she said, if they don’t allow principals to try it.
Other schools interested in the custodial pilot were the Walter Bracken, Howard Hollingsworth, Walter Long, Aldeane Comito Ries and Gene Ward elementary schools; the Sheila Tarr Academy of International Studies; James Cashman Middle School; Eldorado High School; and Northwest Career and Technical Academy.
Ryan Merritt, Stanford’s principal, could not immediately be reached for comment on the letter. Katie Decker, a franchise principal over three schools that wanted to participate in the program, previously spoke before the board advocating for the pilot.
“We just want to look and see what choices there are out there,” she said.
Contact Meghin Delaney at 702-383-0281 or mdelaney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @MeghinDelaney on Twitter.
New committee
The Stanford letter came the same day a new committee, led by Sen Becky Harris, R-Las Vegas, held it's first meeting. The committee is specifically aimed at working through problems faced by school organizational teams (SOTs) during the first year of the reorganization. Committee members include elected official, school organizational team members and district staff.
