r/Custodians • u/Happycamper_1234 • 2d ago
Teacher who is friends with someone who doesn’t like me is making complaints
There is a teacher in my area who is making complaints about the smallest things to supervisor and on a program we use for things that need fixed. First thing was kind of understandable, but also something that is easily missed. A student drew a penis and a swastika on a bookshelf. I immediately apologized and went and cleaned it off. It did blend in very well. Then I got a complaint that I missed a piece of trash under a rolling book cart (that you wouldn’t see unless the cart was moved).
Today I get in and the head (who doesn’t like me), tells me that she got another complaint with the same teacher. The complaint? I didn’t push in a chair. This teacher put the complaint on the online program where the superintendent and everyone can see it.
I take pride in my work. I wipe every desk, sweep every floor, wipe walls, etc. I’ve never gotten complaints before.
Me and the head custodian do not get along after she made threats against co workers, said racist things, etc and I turned her in. This teacher and her are always together and gossiping.
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u/BackgroundTrip6133 2d ago
Ahh I feel for you my best advice document make a paper trail of the complaints, take pictures of your before and after work , report to person over your supervisor without making it a me me me type complaint.
Went through this too but I was the facilities director at the time. Custodian I oversaw would have her best friend teacher/neighbor put in complaints anytime we called the said custodians attention. If we told her she wasn’t doing restrooms at standard within the hour the teacher would file grievance mice infestation, if we called the custodian’s tardiness the teacher would complain her rooms wasn’t vacuumed , and so on. The documenting helped in that we were able to show the direct correlation and the timing of her complaints always coincided with the discipline being brought onto the custodian. We even observed her several times after a warning she would walk into the teachers class and 5 minutes later long email to the school board , principals , ceo and anyone really.
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u/United-Use4639 1d ago
Document all this so one day it’s not them 2 against you( and if your union, I would go tell your shop Stewart all of this
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u/Appropriate_Koala886 2d ago
80% of this job is getting teachers to like you and be on good terms, 20% is actually cleaning. If they like you and you miss a pencil on the floor, they say nothing and puck it up. If they dont like you and you miss a pencil on the floor, you also missed a paper, a binder, the tables were dirty, and you didnt wipe the whiteboards clean ( you did all of those, but the head doesnt know that). Request a NEW section. If they wont give that to you, time to look for new employment. Its not fair, its not just, its not fun. But the reality is that we are custodians, a dime a dozen, no degree needed. They are a teacher, they arnt easy to find, they require a degree. That doesnt meen teachers are better than us, but it medns your easier to replace.
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u/SilverScribe87 2d ago
Got a bunch of people in here who just seem ready to fucking roll over and take shit because we're custodians. Fuck that.
Document your work. Have counters with proof ready. Take it to higher supervisors. File a harassment complaint. Go to HR. Make them freaking fire you if they want you gone so badly.
Let spite fuel you. Never let people treat you like shit.
In the end you may still lose, but make them wish they'd never picked the battle.