News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Putnam County School Board approved a new $3 million contract for custodial services across the school system Thursday night.
HES will take over the work January 1 on a one-year contract, renewable for five additional years. Director of Schools Corby King said the company committed more workers to the project.
“We’ve had some real frustrations with the current vendor just meeting what the contract basically said,” King said. “It’s a good company and nothing against them. They just don’t have the personnel. They don’t have the the people that are there in place to get the job done. And it was time for a change.”
Several middle Tennessee school systems recommended HES including Wilson and Williamson County. The new contract will cost about $600,000 more than the current agreement.
“Yes, it’s going to cost more money to do that, but we’re not getting the product as it should be now,” King said. “And there’s just a lot of a lot of improvements need to be made.”
Five companies submitted bids to the school system. A committee including school personnel looked at the different bids. The school system asked for a $13 minimum wage from the companies. The system’s Tim Martin said the new agreement also includes more stipulations and guidelines to hold HES accountable.
King said principals were spending too much time worried about the conditions of schools.
“That’s huge, just think about the current environment with the pandemic and then flu season coming on,” King said. “This is a huge issue every year. But the cleaning and sanitation of our building is a huge factor in keeping our students and our staff safe. And that’s appearance aside. And that’s something we’ve struggled with for several years. Some buildings were in a little better condition than others.”
