Committee recommends keeping
ServiceMaster for another year
By:Sally Goldenberg
The Hillsborough Board of Education’s Facilities Committee recommended Monday that the board extend its contract with the district’s maintenance management company, ARAMARK ServiceMaster.
ServiceMaster currently provides two supervisors for the district’s 65-person custodial staff, as well as cleaning and maintenance supplies and equipment. The company came under attack last year when board member Wolfgang Schneider complained that bathrooms in some of the schools were unsanitary.
The board will vote at its Jan. 27 meeting on whether to extend the district’s contract with ServiceMaster for another year, beginning July 1, 2003.
The committee presented a performance-based assessment of ServiceMaster at Monday night’s meeting. The report said the nine Hillsborough principals gave ServiceMaster a mean approval rating of 91.8, which exceeded the 80 percent rating the committee set as a standard.
The Facilities Committee, which was charged over the summer with the task of evaluating ServiceMaster, interviewed the principals monthly regarding the company’s efficacy.
The committee’s report showed that ServiceMaster exceeded the required 80 percent minimum rating of weekly building inspections by 4.5 percent in the last quarter of 2002.
The Facilities Committee, in its report, pointed to additional services that ServiceMaster is willing to provide under a $444,200 contract. Those include a night manager, an energy management audit and technology upgrades.
If the district votes down the contract, Facilities Committee Chairman Edward Plaskon said the district will pay about $485,351 for the employees and supplies.
The board seemed likely to vote in favor of the recommended contract Monday night, even though members expressed some reservations.
Mr. Schneider questioned the cost of the contract, saying a third manager to cover night shifts is unnecessary.
"For the $444,000 I think they can give us more supplies and or services that they don’t already provide," he said. "I really believe those figures, in-house, to be a little inflated."
But Mr. Plaskon said the estimated in-house figures are higher than ServiceMaster’s contract because the board would have to pay in-house employees for several months before June 30, when ServiceMaster’s contract ends, to give them enough time to get acclimated to the job.
"It is more cost-effective to remain with Service Master," he said.Board member Steve Sloan said he is in favor of extending the contract for another year because the various construction projects in the district are not entirely completed.
"Although the buildings are up, there’s still work that needs to be done," he said. "I’m fully in support of having their expertise to assist us."
Mr. Plaskon said he does not know which way the board will vote, but felt its questions were "adequately answered."

