Now that the School City of Hammond appears to have its finances in order, some employees are calling on the district to revisit staffing levels and pay structure.
Service Employees International Union steward Larry Hardy says the school corporation lost 64 custodial positions, due to layoffs and a hiring freeze. To ease the workload, kitchen staff was reportedly instructed to do their own cleaning. But Hardy told the school board last week that, due to shortages in the kitchen staff, that work has now been shifted back to custodians.
"I'm appealing to the board to allow the union stewards and management to sit down and have a discussion about bringing some custodians back," Hardy said. "The buildings are not being kept up to our standards. Cleaning, disinfecting, outdoor areas are falling behind."
Earlier this month, the school board also heard from staff members complaining that they didn't get their annual longevity pay. Former board member Cindy Murphy explained that was eliminated as part of last year's corrective action plan.
"If you decide to bring back longevity pay, don't do it for one group. Do if for everybody," Murphy told current board members. "That was one of the problems as we did all the work going through the handbooks — is some associations had some things, others did not."
As part of last week's personnel report, the school board recalled two custodians from separation, but approved another custodian's retirement and accepted the resignations of three kitchen helpers, among other changes. The board also accepted the resignations of Eggers Middle School's principal and dean of students.
