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Clawson students calling for cleaner schools

Posted at 6:35 PM, Jan 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-08 18:35:21-05

A group of students and parents say ever since the maintenance services were outsourced at Clawson Schools, things have changed for the worse.

They called on 7 Action News and asked us to expose what they were seeing.

“We have floors that don’t get swept, bathrooms aren’t kept up, we're running out of supplies,” said Austin Parker, a senior at Clawson High School.

“I have to come in this school. I have to walk around. I have to cheer on this floor, and its not clean,” said Kaitlyn Pearson, also a twelfth grader at Clawson High.

Students blame a change in who is doing maintenance at the school. Maintenance was outsourced starting this school year.

We reached out to the new maintenance provider, GCA Services. It did not provide comment.

Monique Beels, Superintendent of Schools, says as is often the case when you make a change, there have been problems.

“Improvements have been made. We are up to staff. We weren’t at first,” said Beels.

She says she now things are looking better.  She says processes have been put in place to make sure crews are held accountable. Teachers fill out surveys everyday notifying administrators if something needs to be cleaned.

“Our schools are clean, safe, and our custodians are on top of things,” said Beels.

Issues with maintenance services will be on the agenda at Monday night’s school board meeting.  Students say they care about their school and will stay on top of it. They have been posting pictures on social media when issues aren't addressed for days.

“They should be held accountable,” said Parker.