CHELMSFORD, Mass. – After years of problems with private contractor Aramark, including thefts from schools and students, the city school committee has voted to bring daytime custodial services back in house.

Ironically, Chelmsford's vote to reverse course comes as Nashua, NH school board officials are considering a plan to outsource the city's school custodians to a private contractor over the objections of many parents, teachers and community members.

In 2011, school committee officials here outsourced custodial jobs to save money, but employees of Aramark were a constant issue for the schools.

A custodian was arrested on an outstanding warrant just after the private contractor took over. Another contracted employee was caught stealing students' prescription drugs from the Chelmsford High School Nurse's Office in 2013. In recent months, a custodian was arrested for stealing student belongings, and another contracted custodian is being prosecuted for the theft of seven school computers.

Other issues added to the growing failures, such as losing custodians who had decades of experience maintaining the district's buildings.
"When the transition was made," Chelmsford Town Manager Paul Cohen said, "we lost a lot of institutional knowledge."

The high-profile arrests and numerous complaints about the overall quality of service, combined with the fact that cost savings were far less than anticipated, motivated the Chelmsford School Committee to reverse course. The committee voted unanimously to terminate its relationship with Aramark and approved a plan that brings lead day custodians back in-house for each of the town's 11 schools.

Some members of the school committee expressed a desire for the entire operation to be staffed by public employees, but a significant budget deficit forced them to proceed – for now – with a hybrid model that includes a small team of nighttime contract cleaners.

But school committee officials are wary of working with private contractors after their experience with Aramark. They are requesting much more specific proposals for nighttime services and only offering a one-year contract.

In-house custodians will be returning to the Chelmsford schools on July 1, 2016. AFSCME Council 93 plans to organize the custodians in order to protect the hard-fought gains of the union to ensure good jobs in the community.

(This story was also published on the AFSCME blog and can be found here).