Often, the world’s most essential forces are taken for granted: gravity, the atmosphere, sunlight and just as important, custodians.
Around the clock, LHS is filled with custodians, each hard at work to maintain order throughout the school. Custodians often go unnoticed, yet they make up roughly 7% of the workforce at LHS. Under the position of “custodian,” there are many denominations: engineers, managers, daytime and nighttime cleaners. However, no matter their role, each custodian works with a common goal to preserve a clean environment at LHS that prompts learning and focus.
One part of custodial work that goes unrecognized is the night shift. As most cleaning cannot be done with students around, each night, a team of custodians carry out a long list of tasks to prepare for the next day. Jonathan Bright, the night supervisor at LHS, knows this complete routine by heart.
A custodian’s night begins with sweeping hallways before working through individual classrooms. In each classroom, the garbage must be emptied, ledges dusted, whiteboards wiped, windows cleaned and floors vacuumed (or swept and mopped if the floor is tiled). From there, a custodian must venture back to the hallways where they scrub the floors, dust the top of the lockers and, with great valor, clean the bathrooms. Although these tasks are abundant, they are necessary for a functioning school.
“… as long as there are kids in school, there will always be custodians to clean up at the end of the day. That way, kids can come back the next morning to a clean classroom, hallway, locker room, cafeteria and restrooms,” said Bright.
Cultivating a clean school is not just another task for Bright, it is a career. In 2014, while out of a job, Bright came across a job listing for new custodians on the Sioux Falls Job Service website. After applying for a role, he quickly became a night custodian at RHS where he remained until being promoted to an elementary role at Oscar Howe. In August of 2022, Bright was hired as the night supervisor at LHS, a position he has held since.
“Ever since I was age 16, I have had about 11 jobs. Working for the Sioux Falls School District for 10 years now, I have no plans on ever leaving. [The district provides me with] great pay, awesome benefits and I usually get Saturdays and Sundays off,” said Bright.
This commitment to custodial work is more complex than it seems. Nationally, the janitorial industry has turnover rates between 200 and 400%, according to Kimberly-Clark Professional, a provider of cleaning products and equipment. These rates suggest that some workspaces may hire completely new staff anywhere from two to four times per year. And, while those statistics do not apply to every janitorial team, they point to the unique skill set that custodians must have. Besides strong communication skills and quick problem-solving, custodians need to have persistence and grit.
“What makes a great custodian is someone who is quick on their feet [and has] a good eye [for] detail [;] someone who is not afraid to get dirty [;] someone who likes to work on their feet and with their hands…” said Bright.
No amount of custodial skill, however, can impact the role that students play in the maintenance of LHS. Both Bright and lead custodian Michael Semmler agree that little actions can go a long way in keeping LHS clean. From picking up trash (regardless of who it belongs to) and keeping water off the bathroom floors, each student can focus on making custodians’ jobs a little easier. All that aside, there are a few key things that Semmler and Bright would like students to consider as they go through their day.
“If everyone would help with keeping the building looking good [, it] makes it easier on the custodians. For example, if you see something on the floor like trash… and you take the time to pick it up [, it] makes a big difference in the time it takes to get the building ready for the next day,” said Semmler.
As for the night custodians, because their jobs occur after hours, they deal with the compounding effects of students’ actions. Bright can easily envision situations where tools such as “snakes” are needed to unclog toilets; it is a procedure that is far from pleasant. Accordingly, Bright’s reminder for students hits a different note, yet one that is important nonetheless.
“Remember, LHS is a 60-year-old building. There are some old pipes in this school,” said Bright.
