Knox County Schools custodians work long hours and often go unnoticed. After advocating for higher pay and better working conditions, they got a chance to meet with the superintendent to share their concerns.
It paid off.
In December, Knox News reported on the custodians' effort to secure raises amid the district's effort to fill a large number of vacancies. One of the custodians featured in the report, Roberta Dennis, even spoke before the Knox County Board of Education. The group got an opportunity to meet Superintendent Jon Rysewyk and the board recently voted to increase their pay, along with other staffers in the district.
The job they do, cleaning buildings, bathrooms and classrooms, is difficult. Their pay, in many cases, was just above the federal poverty line for a family of four. They've been understaffed too, and the district has been looking for solutions.
On the agenda for their meeting with Rysewyk was a request for more supplies and training, and to talk about their long hours and low pay. The meeting was a success, the group said.
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"He was heartfelt and compassionate," said Dennis, who has been a custodian with the district for 10 years. "He really listened to what we had to say."
Benjamin Everett, who has worked at South-Doyle High School for nine years, prepared a dataset on salaries for Rysewyk.
"(Rysewyk) definitely looked at it for a lot longer than I expected him to," Everett said.
The group commended Rysewyk for listening attentively and taking notes. They told him during summers they don't have air conditioning in some schools, even as temperatures soar.
"He looked very surprised at that. He didn’t know about, I don’t believe," Dennis said.
She's confident the meeting will yield positive results. "I think he's a man of his word," she said.
How much are custodians paid?
Knox County Schools custodial starting pay is $12.20 to $21.36 an hour, depending on experience, while Amazon has $20 an hour average pay for warehouse workers, with a $15 an hour minimum.
Last year, the district raised custodial salaries by 12%. For two years before that, the pay was increased 8% each year.
This year's budget , approved this week, includes salary hike that would bring the custodial starting pay to market rate. This means, for instance, a custodian at step three who currently makes about $32,000 will make about $38,000 moving forward.
Areena Arora , data and investigative reporter for Knox News, can be reached by email at areena.arora@knoxnews.com . Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ AreenaArora .
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Knox County Schools custodians' efforts to improve salaries paid off for all
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