“If you want to keep your team, pay them what they’re worth,” Liz Elting, contributor to Forbes Women.

I ran across this sentence reading an article about worker shortages. It reminded me of the recent Board of Education, BOE, meeting held Nov. 8. Apparently, USD 327 is having trouble maintaining its team of custodial workers and the discussion focused on the idea of hiring high school students to help fill the void by doing custodial grunt work, unskilled work.

I am a big fan of grunt work. I began my working career as a custodial grunt worker, and I ended my working career as a custodial grunt worker. I think it would be a great idea to hire students to do some grunt work around the school. I have read that Japanese students do all the custodial grunt work in their schools. It has been a long time since I read that and it may not be true anymore, but hey, it sounds good.

However, the BOE discussion about hiring students left out some context that should be brought to the attention of students, parents, and patrons. Admittedly, the following context derives from my limited perspective. The questions that came to my mind during the discussion were: why the custodial shortage? why the need for part time student custodians?

Last school year the USD 327 Board of Education gave teachers a nice appreciation bonus for their efforts in dealing with the covid virus, well deserved I would add. However, staff, including custodial staff, received no such consideration. It occurred to me that one reason for the current shortage might be that custodial staff felt slighted and unappreciated for their effort in dealing with the virus, justifiably so in my view. More to the point made by Ms. Elting, maybe custodians and staff feel that they are not being paid “what they’re worth”. Consequently, custodial staff may feel the need to seek employment elsewhere. It occurs to me that it is easier for the BOE to underpay part time student workers than it is to underpay adult workers with family obligations and perhaps health concerns.

My comments here may be received with determined indifference or opposition, but that would not be the first time. I offer them for consideration by BOE members, potential student custodians, parents, and patrons. Also, I offer them as a show of respect for school staff that often seem to be taken for granted. Therein lies another good reason for hiring student custodians. They can gain some respect for the grunt work others do in their behalf, a perspective they might not otherwise acquire. Let the hiring begin.

Jerry Marsh

Ellsworth, Kan.