r/Custodians

My two coworkers retired (rightfully so) before the summer cleaning since they've been here for three decades. The principal is trying to find two more custodians to hire but to no good luck. One person almost showed promise but HR decided to reject the damn dude (I guess fuck me though right?) , so now they're back to square fucking ONE looking for people. It's getting harder and harder to keep calm and to not show the building up anger and resentment I've been feeling. The custodian coordinators are not even fucking responding to texts / calls since last week Friday in regards of getting a few more supplies and in regards to finding help. Added bonus is that they had all custodians in the county work in groups at different schools, which meant I didn't work on mine. So I come back to things not properly done, stripper stains in the class and waxed over, my supplies missing and having to be reordered. I have three halls, main hall, office and library to focus on. Also forgot to mention that they hired a lead custodian, he came in one day and never came back 🙃.

So let's see what's on the shit list so far:

Communication is poor

No help and kids come back next week

Trying to stay calm while some teachers telling me to "smile"

I'm trying my hardest not to walk out despite doing the job of 5 people, but all I know for sure is that those three higher ups that holds precedence over all custodians better not say shit about my performance because at that point I will walk out.

I got a question. Since at my work iam not allowed ask any questions only to listen, maybe I find some answers here.

I've been doing this job on and off for ~15 years and it still brings a little giggle to my heart.

I'm a custodian, and I just had my gallbladder removed. I had a 3cm gallstone, and the top of my belly has a big cut 😢. They gave me 2 weeks off with no restrictions, but my cuts still hurt. I move around and walk, but when I start washing dishes or vacuuming, I begin feeling dizzy, and my cuts start hurting! Can I ask for more time off since my job is physical?

So I work at our local Elementary school part time in the evenings. My youngest son just started kindergarten at the same school. I don't clean his classes section just for reference. His teacher has been incredibly rude and demeaning to me and my wife. Like talking to us like we are little kids ourselves and expecting us to know all these school rules that weren't emailed to us or available online. So if I didn't work at this school I would have given this teacher a piece of my mind already. The employee in me knows to act accordingly but the parent in me wants to cuss this teacher out. Keep in mind we live in a small city so there aren't many options. Anybody else have similar problems?

I’m really struggling with this thought/feeling, because it feels, to a degree, like entitlement. I shouldn’t care, should I? I go in, do my job, and I can shut off — I don’t have to think about legal compliance or underwriting.

The office workers seem genuinely hard working, at least most of the time. They’ve a clean desk policy and sometimes it’s so cluttered, with both their items and cups and cutlery that they’re supposed to return to the kitchen themselves. And the crumbs on the desk and floor too.

I’ve done office cleaning before, so I knew what I was getting myself into. I don’t tut or roll my eyes, or anything like that, but it’s upsetting. Part of me knows this is silly. Most people don’t really acknowledge me, either, even if I do try to say hello or smile. I sort of just feel so small. That, and I’m not allowed any headphones or anything, so the job is mind numbing and boring.

I don’t know. I’m 25, so maybe this is a young person thing, and I just need to get over myself. Maybe part of me thought I’d be somewhere else in life, but saying that insinuates I think custodians are “lower than me”, which I absolutely don’t. I don’t know. I’ve only been working a month. Perhaps I’m lazy, in that Gen Z way that everyone keeps going on about.

I just feel a bit low and crappy. I’m sorry.

Im sorta new at my school but this year they stopped buying weed killer ( yay environment!) But they want the weeds gone. Principal asks we do something about it. Most we can do with our equipment is weedwack for hours and mow over the weeds in woodchips and all. They kinda act like theyd like them picked but provide no equipment for that. Im still new and struggling with the heat so ive been going out in chunks and doing my best but days into my efforts we are bassicly asked to go outside and start dealing with the stuff out there. Like as if we havent been trying to keep it under control all summer. Im battling unclear expectations and a learning curve with no directions as well as heat humidity being overworked and burnt out from the summer we just went through. I brought my own glives and pulled weeds but burt myself when i found out the gloves i own arnt made for picking those prickly weeds and ultimatly just ran it all over with the riding mower. I wish boiling water was an option but theres no way to boil it here much less get enough boiling water going for a playground of weeds. I could try to use carboard under wood chips but that seems likely to fail with little kids coming back to the playground. Anything used has to be safe for kids to interact with. Is it litterly just pulling weeds?
Im curious to what yard work is like for other school custodians. The main issue is the weeds in the wood chips on the playground here

I have been working custodial for about 8 years now. For the first four I had a great boss who would spend about 20 minutes a day on his computer and then on his feet the rest of the day. The next boss I had was for a very short time so I don’t remember his habits but for the past three years have had three consistent bosses and they are always on the computer. The one who works on plumbing and electrical is in his computer about three to four hours a day. The person who is in charge of the after school workers is on his computer about 5-6 hours a day. The head/main boss is on his computer about 7-8 hours a day. I want to have the benefit of the doubt that they all need to be on their computers for some reason, but my experience tells me otherwise so I thought I would reach out and ask.

Looking for the best methods folks have found to get ink off finished floors without something harsh. I’ve had two in the last two days and I don’t really have the time to hit it and buff it.

Looks like Building Services will be further cutting positions on campus—faculty and staff will now be responsible for taking out their own garbage. Last year, we assumed vacuuming duties. Next, we’ll be cleaning toilets—don’t laugh—it will come to be. 14 years of tuition freezes….