Navigating Custodial Staffing Challenges in Education
Education institutions are currently grappling with significant staffing challenges, particularly concerning custodial staff. These essential workers play a pivotal role in maintaining clean and safe learning environments, yet schools across the nation are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain them.
The Scope of the Issue
A report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in October 2024 found that, on average, public schools had filled only 74% of their custodial staff positions before the start of the 2024–25 school year. This was one of the lowest fill rates among non-teaching roles, highlighting the broader staffing challenges faced by educational institutions.
Household survey data further reveals that the number of employed public K–12 custodians fell by 6.0%, mirroring staffing declines in other key school positions, including a 6.8% decrease in teachers, 14.7% in school bus drivers and 2.6% in teaching assistants, demonstrating the significant workforce shortages schools are facing across multiple support roles.
Contributing Factors
Several factors contribute to these staffing challenges:
- Aging Workforce: Many custodial staff members are older, making them more susceptible to health concerns, which can lead to increased absenteeism and early retirement. “Less than a third (31.6%) of U.S. workers overall are age 50 or older, compared with 66.2% of bus drivers, 55.4% of custodians, and 50.4% of food service workers in the K–12 public education workforce.” (epi.org)
- Wage Disparities: Custodial positions often offer lower wages compared to similar roles in other industries, making it difficult for schools to attract and retain qualified candidates. For some of these positions, low weekly wages also mean limited hours. Whether supplementing their custodial work with seasonal summer jobs or additional year-round work, school staff are more likely than other workers to hold multiple jobs. In fact, 7.1% of school custodians work multiple jobs. (epi.org)
- Budget Constraints: Financial limitations within school districts can lead to reduced staffing levels and increased workloads for existing custodial staff, contributing to job dissatisfaction and higher turnover rates.
Implications for Schools
The shortage of custodial staff has direct implications on the cleanliness and maintenance of school facilities. “Studies have found that when schools defer maintenance or fail to clean their facilities adequately, students can exhibit increased rates of absenteeism, more frequent illnesses, and lower average test scores.” (auditor.ca.gov)
Strategies for Improvement
To address these challenges, educational institutions can consider the following strategies:
- Outsourcing: Partnering with a professional custodial service provider ensures consistency and expertise while alleviating staffing burdens.
- Quality Control: Implementing regular performance reviews, on-site inspections, daily verification of services and quality control measures ensures custodial staff consistently meet high standards. Daily communication with supervisors allows for prompt issue resolution and operational efficiency.
- Professional Development: Providing career growth opportunities, reward programs and employee recognition can help with job satisfaction and long-term retention.
- Customized Staffing Plans: Tailoring custodial schedules to align with school needs and scope of work ensures efficiency. Flexible scheduling options help accommodate fluctuating demands.
- Competitive Compensation: Offering salaries that are competitive with similar positions in other industries can help attract and retain custodial staff.
What’s Right for Your School
Custodial staffing shortages and budget constraints continue to challenge schools, but finding the right approach depends on each district’s unique needs. Some schools may choose to manage custodial staffing in-house, while others may benefit from outsourcing. However, outsourcing to a professional custodial provider offers advantages that can be difficult to achieve with in-house teams, such as consistent staffing, quality control and operational efficiencies.
Why Schools Choose FBG
At FBG, we’re more than just a cleaning company, we’re your partner in building safe, healthy learning environments. Here’s what makes us different:
- Employee Ownership: FBG is 100% employee-owned, meaning every member of our team has a personal stake in delivering the highest level of service. As the only employee-owned company in our industry, we take pride in our work, our company and the relationships we build with the schools we serve.
- Weekly Pay: We pay our employees weekly, helping them stay financially stable and improving retention.
- Local Resources and Hiring: We hire from the communities we serve, providing schools with staff who are familiar with and care about the local environment. As a local provider with local resources, we reinvest in the community, which enhances both responsiveness and service quality.
- Focused on People: We offer professional development, recognition programs like our Longevity Awards, Value Awards and Employee of the Year Awards and real opportunities for career growth.
This people-first model not only improves service quality but also helps schools overcome the challenges of recruiting and retaining custodial staff.
Schools don’t have to navigate staffing shortages alone. With FBG’s local hiring, employee ownership, professional development programs and customized staffing solutions, we help schools maintain clean, safe learning environments, while building stronger communities together.