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Editor: This letter is a response to the article that was written about the “lack of upkeep” at Beaver Local on Tuesday, Aug. 24. In April OAPSE offered to take a wage freeze in order to keep everyone working. I as president took it to a vote and it was a unanimous decision. At the time the board seemed very appreciative, but at the last building and grounds committee meeting the superintendent questioned our commitment to do our jobs. When the temperature reaches the 90s outside and it’s even hotter inside the building we continue to do our job regardless. We still put in our total eight hours each day. We have one custodian laid off because of cuts. Beaver Local has not had enough summer help the last couple years. If the board and superintendent are not going to hire enough people then the work will not get done. I myself have worked on the summer crew and know from personal experience what it entails to complete the work. The work crews are getting smaller and the work load is exponentially increasing. One person being laid off may not sound like much; however, the hours cut elsewhere, such as the two people who worked outside for eight hours a day six months out of a nine-month period, has now been dwindled down to a single person working the full eight-hour shift and another only working a three-and-a-half hour shift, which in turn hinders the capability of the employees to complete the now immense work load. This reduction totals a whopping 22.5 hours per week that has been cut. With the skeleton crews that were assembled, these people worked like dogs to get these buildings into shape this summer. In regards to the weeds the lawn company has not done its job from the start. We had two employees go to classes to learn how to spray for weeds. They passed one test and were scheduled to return for a second test; however, the superintendent would not permit them to return. Now outside help is being considered which is going to cost this district a great deal more than paying your own employees to do the job. If two custodians took a vacation at the exact same time, whose fault is that? The employee puts in a request to take the vacation but the requests have to be approved by the superintendent who has to read and sign each individual request. Concerning the practice field, it was the superintendent who instructed it not to be watered as often. Unless the board is going to put a good foot forward and be willing to work on reducing these cuts and aid the custodians who are said to be responsible for these problems, they will only continue to snowball for years to come. Peggy J. Mills Rogers
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August 23, 2010 I suppose if I could pick another career, rather than my current one as newspaper editor, I would choose to be a cook. more » Latest Blogs |
