Spokane Public Schools learders said Tuesday they don’t have any plans to bring in more janitors amid the coronavirus outbreak that has caught their attention.
Last summer, SPS faced a budget deficit of $31 million before they were able to make adjustments and save hundreds of jobs with a $461.9 million budget.
Custodians were expected to be hit hard during the cuts but the final budget laid off seven fewer custodians than originally anticipated. In total, 67 staff members and nine teachers were laid off in the final budget, including several people working as specialists.
Over the last few days, SPS has sent out updates on how they’re handling the coronavirus. Right now, each school is operating off of the custodians that were on staff at the beginning of the fiscal year.
That’s made up of one janitor at each school who handles dayside cleaning and 22 roaming custodians that serve as backups and step in during an absence.
The reduction in staff has forced schools to improvise in certain situations.
According to SPS, they’re prioritizing the disinfection of high touch areas and have had extra cleaning supplies available for individual classrooms to wipe down surfaces.
Cleaning of the floors has been limited to twice a week but the schools did say they’re working to keep all cleaning materials in full stock.
There are no immediate plans to bring in extra staffing for the coronavirus.