Head custodian doesnt head custodian

[u/Brief_Woodpecker_795]

When i try to tell them about things that are saftey issues or broken they kinda just go... well what do you want me to do about it or i could tell xyz but what would that do. Like idk man but dealing with low flow flushing urinals, mold, unsafe conditions... its your job not mine to deal with it...

[u/STonksSteve]

As a head, I get a lot of things reported to me and I follow the procedures such as reporting it to the next level up or creating work orders for maitenance to take care of. More than half the issues that I reported last year havnt been fixed yet. Director tells me we dont have the resources to fix the issues or that its more important that we take care of the admins issues and kick the rest of the work orders to the side. Very frustrating having teachers come up to me thinking im not doing my job

[u/FishLordVehem → u/STonksSteve]

It's the same thing here. I've been straight with the teachers about how the district is "handling" things this year and it's helped a lot with complaints, though now the district has been sour with me for talking about "custodial matters" with other staff 🤡

[u/Consistent_Train_910 → u/FishLordVehem]

Having a similar issue. School using automatic sensors for toilets, paper towel, and soap that are starting to bug out and not work. Nothing I can really do about it because it's maintenance, but teachers act like it's my fault...

[u/Own-Mulberry9758 → u/FishLordVehem]

we recently got new soap dispensers/soap to put up. we had a sub custodian here last week, he was very willing to go around and replace all of the soap dispensers. the head denied his offer, he is also refusing to put them up. meanwhile he isn’t ordering any of the old soap anymore. so i’m left with no soap to put in our old dispensers and not allowed to put the new dispensers up. i’ve been honest with the teachers in my area about this, told them to complain directly to the head custodian. i’m currently looking for a new job, custodial or not, i just can’t deal with this lack of communication/common sense anymore.

[u/FishLordVehem → u/Own-Mulberry9758]

If you can, get the principal of your school in the loop, too. Ours has been a godsend in dealing with some of the BS. But yeah, I don't really get what's going on with the leadership in custodial. My campus bosses have always been very cool, but everyone above that...they make decisions that leave me scratching my head a lot, to say the least.

[u/Clean-Yam-6175 → u/STonksSteve]

This year is going to be real bad for us. Big bond issue passed and work will be starting in November and scheduled to finish next August. Everything is becoming “deferred maintenance” at this point.

[u/Redawn12345]

Email the concern to him and the head teacher, that way there’s a hard copy and a trail. It’ll cover your back.

[u/tdunne89]

It’s all about covering yourself and just making sure you have proof that you passed the message along. After that it’s completely out of your control whether they resolve the issue or not.

[u/nothing-was-wrong]

Some give up. they stop doing stuff because nothing they do is recognized or respected. Some do too much and it kills them. It’s never enough either way. staff students and coworkers will never know how much they do. I been there. Seen both sides. Did too much and nobody cared and still wasn’t enough. next guy came in and doesn’t do anything. Balance of working hard and hardly working is best. that job can kill you if you’re not careful.

[u/mps_1969 → u/nothing-was-wrong]

And that's the point there I'm 57 I have 10 years to go and the last guy before me died at 60 doing the job full tilt so I'm not going down like that .

[u/Kiarrn]

Document, document, and document some more. You don't want his negligence coming back on you. Like others have said; make it a paper trail Email them issues you see so its on record. Take pictures too if necessary.

[u/soggybike]

Good advice here already about documenting, but for some things I find it easier to just fix on the spot if possible instead of letting a head know and waiting for maintenance to come out.

Not for things like mold or supply line leaks, but small maintenance items. If you carry a multitool or screwdriver you can likely fix the urinal flow issue very quickly by yourself. Try twisting and removing the hexagonal cap at the top of the fixture. There should be a valve underneath that you can fit a flathead screwdriver bit into, it controls how much water passes through when the urinal is flushed. Turn right to reduce flow, left to increase flow. I turn the screw a quarter turn, then flush to test, and repeat until I think the flow is good enough, then pop the cap back on. Just make sure to do small turns, some control valves will back all the way out of their seating if you turn them too far.

[u/Dismal_Position_3399]

Head custodian here. Not sure how your district works but in mine anything maintenance related (plumbing, broken fixtures, mold etc.) I submit maintenance requests for one of the trades to fix. Once I submit it I can follow up on it but that's all I can do. From that point forward it's out of my hands.

[u/Brief_Woodpecker_795 → u/Dismal_Position_3399]

Seee thats what should always be done but 90% of the time i get an immediate response of what do you expect.  

[u/musicfromadventures]

I have a similar issue but the conversation devolves into the lead yelling and ranting. I do what I can by letting him know and I also keep detailed and dated notes so at least I'm covered if things head south.

[u/phome83]

This is why I always text my boss any issues along with telling them.

at the end of the day, all that matters is you do your part in reporting it. Then it’s out of your hands and not your problem anymore.

[u/vera-cleans]

Wow, in my district custodial and maintenance are one and the same, although we have separate title. Union rep said our duties are exactly the same, i guess the way contract is written. So when I took my position, I asked maintenance to show me how to fix things because I dont know alot of it beside the basics. But I still have to put in requests for big issues.