L&S Associates, LLC Educational, Environmental, Maintenance & Operations Consultants (EEMOCo) League City, Texas Home Office 281-386-6042 Tyler, Texas Area Office 903-504-1111 Athens, Texas Area Office 972-948-5640 L & S Associates, LLC
M & O Staffing Model Greg Lookabaugh TASBO Life Member How Many is Enough? David L. Simmons TASBO Life Member L & S Associates, LLC
Facilities Staffing How Many is Enough? Custodial
There are various formulas and recommended standards for staffing your Custodial Department. How do you determine what works best for your District?
Before you can staff your facilities properly you must know what the expectations of your District are. The Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities describes a five-tiered system of expectations to help define standards of cleanliness. Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch National Center for Education Statistics
Level 1 cleaning results in a spotless building as might normally be found in a hospital environment or corporate suite. At this level a custodian with proper supplies and tools can clean approximately 10,000 to 11,000 square feet in an 8 hour shift.
Level 2 cleaning is the uppermost standard for most school cleaning, and is generally reserved for restrooms, special education areas, kindergarten areas, or food service areas. A custodian can clean approximately 18,000 to 20,000 square feet in an 8 hour shift.
Level 3 cleaning is the norm for most school facilities. It is acceptable to most stakeholders and does not pose any health issues. A custodian can clean approximately 28,000 to 31,000 square feet in an 8 hour shift.
Level 4 cleaning is not usually acceptable in a school environment. Classrooms would be cleaned every other day, carpets would be vacuumed every third day, and dusting would occur once a month. At this level, a custodian can clean 45,000 to 50,000 square feet in an 8 hour shift.
Level 5 cleaning can very rapidly lead to an unhealthy situation. Trash cans might be emptied and carpets vacuumed on a weekly basis. One custodian can clean 85,000 to 90,000 square feet in an 8 hour shift.
The figures in the 5 levels are estimates and the actual number of square feet a custodian can clean depends on many variables. The type of flooring, number of fixtures, non-cleaning duties, set-ups, building usage, etc. all play a role in accurately staffing your facilities
So how do we start?
A well known and accepted industry standard is 20,000 square feet per full time employee, in an 8 hour shift Can this standard be misleading?
Who is included in the formula? Is the entire staff at the facility included and if so are they all actually contributing to the cleaning? Are some providing more service related tasks than production cleaning?
Is the gross square footage of the building used in the formula, or are you using 90% as your cleanable square footage (allowing 10% for mechanical rooms, storage areas, kitchen, closets)?
Example: Elementary School 100,000 sq. ft. 20,000 sq. ft. = 5 custodians 100,000 10,000 (10%) = 90,000 90,000 sq. ft. = 4.5 custodians However
1 custodian 6:30 a.m. 3:00 p.m. 1 custodian 11:30 a.m. 7:00 p.m. 3 custodians 3:00 p.m. 11:30 p.m. Actual square footage being cleaned at night by 3.5 custodians is 25,714
The majority of the work done in your schools prior to the students being dismissed is policing, cafeteria service, emergencies, staff needs, etc. Few areas can be adequately cleaned while school is in session. Most will have to be re-cleaned once the school day is over.
It is important to differentiate between your service custodians (porters, day custodians) and your production custodians (evening or night custodians) when you talk square footage cleaned per custodian.
High School Staffing with Grounds 1.0 custodian per 8 adults 1.0 custodian per 200 students 1.0 custodian per 8 classrooms 1.0 custodian per 10,000 sq. ft. 1.0 custodian per 5 acres (grounds keeping)
Middle School Staffing with Grounds 1.0 custodian per 10 adults 1.0 custodian per 200 students 1.0 custodian per 8 classrooms 1.0 custodian per 12,000 sq. ft. 0.6 custodian per 5 acres (grounds keeping)
Elementary School Staffing with Grounds 1.0 custodian per 10 adults 1.0 custodian per 250 students 1.0 custodian per 8 classrooms 1.0 custodian per 12,000 sq. ft. 0.4 custodian per 5 acres (grounds keeping)
One of the most accurate staffing methods can also be quite time consuming to implement. Unitization is combining known standards and facility requirements to develop work schedules. We unitize to outline areas and methods of care, assign workloads and define responsibilities.
Conduct an inventory of your facility. It should include square footage of classrooms, offices and all other areas, with a count of fixtures, white or chalkboards, windows, and the type of floor coverings with square footage of each type.
Use a time study to assign times to tasks that will be done each day. (ISSA & APPA have published standards) You must also determine the frequencies of each task based on District expectations. Calculate the total time required to complete the tasks each day. Use this data to determine the number of FTEs necessary to obtain the desired level of clean.
Non-cleaning duties should also be considered in your scheduling. These will vary from District to District and possibly even facility to facility within a District. Building usage may also impact cleaning schedules.
Non-cleaning Duties: Breakfast program Set up meetings Make coffee Open classrooms Water plants Pick up outside trash Move furniture Stock copier paper Change light bulbs Unload deliveries Change marquee Replace ceiling tiles Assist rental groups Athletics laundry
Building Usage After school programs PTA Continuing Education Programs Athletics Fine Arts
Summary Everybody wants to do more with less Good Training and equipment can help bridge the gap. Great communication and leadership will make the difference.