While elected officials and concerned parents battle over the city’s plan to reopen schools with safer cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting strategies to reduce and prevent COVID-19 transmissions, custodial staff charged with implementing these strategies are warning this kind of work will take more resources.
Local 891 and 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the main custodial unions servicing public schools have been among the dissident voices that demand more labor and funding before schools can reopen safely or at all.
“There are a lot of promises being made about the work that’s going to get done and my members want to be able to do what they always do and provide a safe environment for the kids, but there are not enough resources to do that,” said Local 891 President Robert J. Troeller, adding there are over 800 members that work directly with the city to service all the public school districts.
Troeller noted that in the recently passed Fiscal Year 2021 budget, the custodian portion of the Department of Education’s budget received the same funding for manpower as last year, approximately $640 million system-wide.
“They want my members to have more staff there during the day, visibly cleaning, available to clean and stock the bathrooms, and additionally they want to do a deep cleaning and sanitizing every night,” said Troeller. “I’m not even sure what that term deep cleaning means.”
Troeller said no matter how you slice it, the night cleaning staff is going to split the labor from day cleaning and routine cleanings without more people to physically carry out the city’s orders. “How much more stretched can these people be? How much more can you give them to do?” asked Troeller.
Troeller said the city is supposed to assist staff with efficiency by providing electronic equipment called electrostatic cleaners that “are on the way but haven’t been received yet” and “aren’t for every school.”
Troeller said despite the fact that some people may have “unrealistic expectations” of school reopenings members will still go out and do their best to keep schools safe and clean.
Shirley Aldebol, 32BJ Vice President and Director of NY Schools Division, said “32BJ school cleaners and handypersons have been working throughout this crisis and continue to work on frontlines.
“We need more cleaning and maintenance staff to make sure the school children, teachers and all staff are safe. We are working with the DOE on a plan so that schools are adequately staffed and ready for reopening,” said Aldebol.
Department of Education (DOE) Spokesperson Nathaniel Styer responded that facilities staff are at the center of safely reopening our schools, and they are currently assessing all buildings and rooms for repairs or modifications to ventilation systems to be done as quickly as possible.
“This includes upgrading air filters on HVAC systems across the city and the SCA making substantial repairs to 30 schools. This fall, students and staff will only use rooms that are deemed safe under public health guidelines,” Styler said.
Styer said this summer, custodial engineers began surveying all buildings and assessed what required ventilation system repairs and modifications needed to be made to some 1,300 school buildings and repairs will continue through the start of school.
The DOE said they are looking into also equipping schools with HVAC air filtration systems with upgraded filters from a MERV-8 to MERV-13 classification, which is efficient at capturing airborne viruses according to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).
In schools without HVAC systems, repairs are being made to windows to ensure that air circulation is appropriate and safe for use, said Styer.
This work is being done by the Division of School Facilities and the School Construction Authority, informed by guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Council of Great City Schools, the city Dep[artmnet of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the City University of New York (CUNY), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said Styer.
Styler, however, did not address the union’s concerns about additional custodial staffing or hiring.
Last week, City Councilmember Mark Treyger (D-Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, Sea Gate), who chairs the Education Committee, released his own amendments to the school reopening model. It states that the school year should start later in the fall, in-person instruction should prioritize kids in need, the DOE must strictly adhere to the CDC and New York State Health Department guidelines, and above all, there must be a more aggressive approach to staffing resources.
“They don’t have the budget for that. I know that for a fact, they don’t have the budget to do deep cleaning every night at this moment,” said Treyger. “I’m also told by a couple of school cleaners that certain items are on backorder, for example, Lysol wipes. I’m told we’re on a four to five-month back order to the point where DOE has reached out to the manufacturer directly.”
Treyger emphasized that school staff and custodians, including nurses, are not prepared yet for a reopening. Treyger said that his plan is better than the hybrid plan, citing an epidemiologist that shot down a mixture of remote and in-person learning because it can increase exposure and contact with the virus.
It’s going to be expensive, said Treyger, but being honest doesn’t cost a dime and Mayor Bill De Blasio needs to realize the city doesn’t have the money for compliance at this time.
