“The type of funding that an educational institution receives can affect the salaries of janitors. In 2011, the 53,930 workers in private facilities earned a mean $13.62 per hour or $28,330 per year. Schools owned by state government, such as state colleges, boasted the most jobs, with 54,230 employees averaging $12.80 per hour, or $26,620 per year. And the 11,680 janitors in institutions owned by local government, such as city high schools, received the highest wages at $14.36 per hour, or $29,860 per year.

In public institutions, both the availability of jobs and salary ranges depend on the tax base and budgets of local and state governments” (Locsin, 2019). From this relevant statistic, it is proven that even though custodians are continually underpaid, they have to perform various tasks that are not required to maintain a clean and functioning school. Here at Chatfield Senior High, we would like to honor our custodians for their sacrifice in making our school the presentable, clean, and sanitary place that it was meant to be. Our custodial staff members include Tyler Williams, James Donaldson, Melissa Chavez, Luke Jones, Wilbert Bahamundi, David Booster, and of course our facilities manager Jesse Reynolds.

As a custodian, several duties that they will encounter throughout the day encompass building repairs, trash, mopping, vacuuming, snow removal, landscaping, setting up for afternoon and night programs/activities, and cleaning floors and bathrooms. With any other job, this description does not even begin to cover the extent of their service throughout our building. Understaffed, underpaid, and underappreciated custodians are continually the backbone of furthering our education by giving us a sanitary place to go to school. Each staff member is a person and as such has his/her own personal story. So take the time to get to know them and respect what they do for us here at Chatfield. Help celebrate National Custodian Day by picking up your trash and helping to make our school a clean and sanitary place to learn.