CAMPUS
NEWS
CLEAN: bathroom supplies often empty
Continued from page 3
AT ISSUE
Loss of custodial
workers leads
to potentially
unsanitary
conditions.
part-time custodian closed
last week.
Mario Gaspar, who took
over as the director of phys-
ical plant and facilities earli-
er this year, said his depart-
ment is working to ensure
that supplies are restocked
on time. He did not return
requests for comment on
the schedule changes or
whether the district plans
to fill the remaining vacant
positions.
“In the time that I’ve been
at Santa Ana College, I’ve
witnessed maintenance,
grounds, and custodi-
ans work to improve the
campus to the best of
their abilities,” Gaspar said.
“Some necessary adjust-
ments have been made
to the Maintenance and
Operations department to
improve the facilities for
students, staff, faculty, and
the community.”
During public comment
at the July 16 Board of
Trustees meeting, a group
of custodians spoke about
the impact of their unex-
pected schedule changes.
Custodian Suon Tuon has
worked at SAC for almost 20
years. He spoke on behalf of
the new graveyard shift cus-
todians and said they are
not able to properly clean
windows and other outdoor
items now due to the lack of
daylight. He proposed fur-
ther adjustments that would
allow custodians to start an
hour earlier on some days
and work a swing shift on
Friday. Only the first request
regarding beginning an hour
earlier was agreed to.
Another custodian, Jose
Garcia, who cleaned the
Child Development Cen-
ter until early July, had
concerns that the building
was not being thoroughly
disinfected with the current
schedule. Now, there is one
full-time person assigned
to the center. In his opin-
ion, there are not enough
human resources to do
the same work that was
previously done by three
part-time employees.
“This place is for kids and
needs to be disinfected
every day,” Garcia told the
board. “I was transferred
from CDC to do the cam-
pus job as a cover guy. I go
wherever they send me,
but I believe I will be more
useful somewhere where
I can do more stuff. Many
people quit since July, but I
am not a quitter, and I want
my voice to be heard.”
Small said Garcia was pas-
sionate about the standards
required to clean the CDC
and that the union opposed
relocating him because it
would impact the children
at the center. Child Devel-
opment officials did not re-
turn a request for comment.
Sheryl Martin, the presi-
dent of the California School
Employee Association,
spoke on behalf of the cus-
todians during the Board of
Trustees meeting. She said
that the personal lives of
janitors have also been af-
fected by the changes and
though they wrote a letter in
which they asked for a com-
promise on the new hours, it
was rejected.
“You see them in the
back of the room standing
for what is right. They are
people like you and I, who
have families, and personal
lives” Martin said.
el Don Santa Ana College · December 2018
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