Due to the firing of over 300 custodial workers last spring, school authorities were not able to get locker combinations changed before school opened and had to resort to "creative" ways of getting the job done, said public school spokeswoman Denise Tann.Tann said the combinations are usually changed during the summer, but the layoffs delayed that job.

She said school parents and security personnel helped change the locker combinations so students could stop having to carry all their books and supplies to every class.

"My son (had) to carry a 35 to 40 pound book bag around school," said Thomas Smith, whose 15-year-old son is a junior at Dunbar. "He has complained of back problems."

Despite having to use volunteers to finish a job usually done by custodians, Tann claims there is not a shortage of custodial workers in the schools.

"Right now, we have ample staffing for our schools," Tann said. She said Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has "reclassified" certain jobs so other workers are able to help the current custodial staff. Thirty-four custodians have been rehired, she said.

Terri Greene, president of the Cardozo High School Parents Teachers Students Association, has circulated petitions to all D.C. public schools calling for the reinstatement of all the custodians.

"Parents should be demanding that every school in the city have at least the same number of custodians and boiler engineers they had last school year," Greene said.

Tann said the school system will use "roving" engineers to perform boiler maintenance this winter.

Tann also said she knows of no effort on the part of the school system to rehire the remaining custodians. The custodians were laid off as part of a cost-cutting measure that also saw the firing of teachers and administrators, Tann said.

The fired custodial workers are members of Teamsters Locals 639 and 730.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator