GUSTINE – Changes are in store for the Gustine Unified School District’s custodial staffing, despite concerns that the planned reorganization would leave school sites without an on-campus custodian in the morning hours and have personal ramifications for staff members.

Superintendent Gail McWilliams said she is still working out the details, but is planning to implement the reorganization in January.

Under one scenario, full-time custodians at Gustine Elementary School, Gustine Middle School and Gustine High School would each begin their work day in the mid-afternoon hours and work as a group into the evening cleaning one campus after another.

Currently, those custodians work a daytime schedule and each is responsible for the campus where they are based.

McWilliams said that, under the potential reconfigurations, part-time custodians could be scheduled to come to work in the late morning and early afternoon, and one full-time custodial employee could be on the job earlier and able to respond to emergencies at any of the three in-town campuses.

Romero, because of its distance from the other three campuses, would not be affected by the reorganization.

McWilliams said the reorganization will allow the district to two vacant part-time positions open  – and she believes the team cleaning approach will prove more efficient.

Two custodians likely to be impacted by the move voiced their opposition, including one who took his concerns to the school board last Wednesday.

Gustine Elementary custodian Brian Addington said custodial staffing at the K-5 site is imperative during the morning hours.

A typical morning might include picking up glass from the kindergarten playground, cleaning up after a child has become ill or making repairs, Addington said – duties which need immediate attention.

He also voiced concerns about personal ramifications of a shift from daytime to night hours, saying it would preclude him from working the second job he depends on and would cut into the time he has with his children.

“You will be placing me back on a shift I was hired to work 21 years ago,” Addington said.

Others in the board audience spoke on the importance of having a custodian readily available at all times during the school day.

“This is an elementary school, and the children get sick,” said teacher Carmina Mattos. “If he can’t be there during the day, who is going to take care of it? It doesn’t start at 11 a.m. There needs to be somebody there.”

One parent said she would consider it a health risk if custodians were not readily available to clean up after students became ill or had an accident.

Health aide Cheryl Lemas also addressed the issue. “I count on Brian or whoever is there in the morning,” she stressed.

Addington later told Mattos Newspapers that he currently works from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., but his proposed work schedule would be 2:30-11.

The morning hours, he said, are “a very busy time” for him at the elementary school.

Gustine Middle School custodian Alvin Amaral was not in attendance at the board meeting, but later agreed with the concerns voiced.

“I don’t see how they are going to do it without somebody on campus all morning. There are a lot of little things that happen during the day,” he later told Mattos Newspapers. “Who will be responsible for what we do in the morning?”

He questioned whether the team-cleaning approach was feasible.

“The superintendent shows it working on paper, but to me it is not going to work operationally,” Amaral said. “I understand there are problems with budgets, but I don’t see how they are going to save any money that way.”

He, too, is also concerned about the shift from daytime hours to the evening from a personal standpoint and believes morale would take a hit if the reorganization is implemented.

“We have done our time to get to where we’ve gotten in the district,” Amaral said.

McWilliams acknowledged that concern, saying any decision which impacts the lifestyles of employees is not taken lightly, but said she believes the reorganization is merited financially and operationally.

“We can’t leave the schedules as they currently are without hiring,” she commented. “I looked at this initially for financial reasons, but I also think it will be more efficient. It ends up being more man-hours available per site to clean when the school is vacant. We can provide more cleaning when students and staff are gone.”

The school board does not have to approve the reorganization, McWilliams added, but is aware of the planned changes.