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Schools across America are facing a slew of problems right now thanks to COVID and politics, and, well… We could go on and on. At or near the top of most of those lists is a struggle to find enough janitors to keep schools clean, and a struggle with increased student apathy as we plow headlong into our third year of “two weeks to flatten the curve.” Now at least one school district in Minnesota has found a way to kill those two birds with the very same stone.
Why the janitor shortage?
The Anoka-Hennepin School District is one of the largest in Minnesota and they, like so many other districts, are facing a janitor shortage. Why? Well, the answer is pretty simple. When schools went virtual in the early days of COVID, they didn’t need much maintenance or cleaning, and that meant many of those workers left to go find other jobs. Now that schools are trying to get back to normal, they’re finding those workers aren’t so keen to come back. The issue is the same with substitute teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and more.
Getting students to clean the classroom: A win-win
So where is a school going to find a few able-bodied individuals who don’t mind doing a few basic cleaning tasks every day and are willing to work for $15/hour? Well as you may have guessed, the district turned to its students for the answer. Yes, Blaine High School is the first school in the district to launch the program, intending to replace 18 janitors lost during the COVID shuffle.
For students to be hired they must be at least 16 years old, but they can ride the bus home from work so having a car and driver’s license isn’t necessary. The district pays students $15.30 an hour, to be exact, and don’t have to do the nastiest of the janitorial duties like cleaning bathrooms and locker rooms. Instead, they’re put in charge of the sweeping, dusting, trash pick-up and disinfectant duties.
The concept of kids cleaning classrooms isn’t exactly a new one. Back in 2015 a school in Oregon made headlines for carving out 30 minutes a day after lunch for kids to clean up after themselves. Even though those students worked for free, teachers said it did have an overwhelming positive effect on the school as a whole. Kids held each other accountable, and, once they became responsible for the messes they made, they began to take ownership of their actions and the school itself.
“Cleaning Tradition”
In Japan, the concept of “Cleaning Tradition” has been around for years. Children ages 6 through 18 spend the last 15 minutes of every school day sweeping and vacuuming floors, wiping down counters and picking up and putting away classroom items. The time there is seen almost as a relaxing reward, with students being allowed to clean in teams and socialize with each other as the work gets done.
Teachers in Japan say the concept dates back to a 17th-century philosophy that a clean workspace leads to a clean mind. There’s also research to suggest that the cleaner and tidier a classroom is, the happier everyone in it becomes. Teachers say it also instills a sense of duty amongst the students that if you use a particular space, it’s your responsibility to leave it the way you found it. That lesson of personal accountability goes a lot further than not having to see wrappers and empty bottles on the floor. It teaches students a real-world lesson about being responsible for yourself and everything around you.
So maybe not every school will start employing students to sweep the halls and wipe down the desks (although we’re sure many will try to get teachers to do it for free). But the idea seems to be a win-win for everybody. Custodial work is traditionally a low-paying job that many adults can’t afford to live on anyway. So if they can move on to bigger and better things, let the youth chase that paper, with their boundless energy and backs that don’t crack like a glow stick. Who knows? Those students might just learn a lesson you can’t find in a textbook.
