District can save $650,000 a year by outsourcing custodians

PORTAGE, MI — Portage Public Schools are poised to save $650,000 in the 2009-10 school year by privatizing its second- and third-shift custodians, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Many people present at Monday's school board meeting were skeptical until the figures were broken down so they could be easily understood, the story stated.

For $1.49 million a year, Grand Rapids Cleaning Services will provide services comparable to what the district is paying custodians $2.024 a year for, the story noted.

According to the story, Grand Rapids Cleaning Services will also purchase the district's cleaning equipment for $300,000.

Contractors can perform work much cheaper than in-house custodians can because their wages and benefits are so much lower than what school districts pay, the story added.

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