The Janesville School Board meets at 6 tonight at the Educational Services Center, 527 S. Franklin St. The agenda includes:
-- Announce and probably approve a new principal for Roosevelt Elementary School and an assistant principal for Marshall Middle School. Officials said the identities of those people would not be available until the meeting.
-- Consider approval of rules governing the use of seatbelts on school buses.
-- Consider approval of a revised school bus contract regarding seat belts with the Van Galder Bus Co.
JANESVILLE — The Janesville School District has found another way to save on custodial costs: Hire part-timers.
The school board will consider the idea at its meeting tonight.
In a memo, Business Services Director Doug Bunton said a minimum of six custodians are needed to handle the increased square footage at the newly expanded Craig and Parker high schools.
Bunton recommends hiring two full-time custodians and a number of part-timers that together would cover six eight-hour shifts.
The part-timers would not receive heath/dental/drug insurance, and that's where most of the savings would be. Bunton estimated the cost for all the new hires would be $288,000 a year. The original estimate was $348,000 for six full-timers.
The union contract with the custodians requires the district to pay benefits if someone works more than 6.5 hours a day, Bunton said.
Bunton also proposes the district stop using overtime and substitutes to cover the shifts of custodians who are out sick or on leave.
The district estimates it could save about $100,000 a year by not covering those shifts.
In addition, the district will use suggestions from the Sarasota, Fla., school district and reduce levels of cleanliness in certain parts of schools to save on costs, Superintendent Karen Schulte said.
The district will entertain other ideas to save money on cleaning, Schulte said.
Bunton is asking that the board decide about hiring custodians by the board's Tuesday, July 14, meeting to insure the custodians are trained and ready to go by the start of the school year.
Schulte said the school board could hire more custodial help later if the minimal staffing level isn't enough, "but we don't have the money."