Hamilton County Department of Education

Challenge

The Hamilton County schools serve 40,000 pre-K through 12th grade students. Since the DOE’s decision in 2005 to outsource custodial services, ABM has been their trusted partner.

The Board had to find an effective alternative to existing in-house custodial service challenges that included high overhead and employee turnover, inadequate supervision, increasing benefit costs, and a diminishing level of service for a school system that encompasses 85 sites and approximately 7 million square feet of facility floor space.

Solution

The Board chose to outsource all custodial services to ABM, whose reputation for quality and service was well supported. “Our company worked with the county schools at one time and had established a good reputation for quality service,” said Edris Pledger, Director of Finance & Accounting for ABM. With a team of 313 full-time employees, including custodians, lead personnel, area managers, administrative staff, and additional managerial staff, ABM performs all of the standard custodial functions, plus grounds maintenance, as well as construction cleanup as new schools are built.

Benefit

Besides the day-to-day efficiency the client has come to expect, the school district also benefits by having a single contact to address needs as they develop, an ABM liaison who interfaces with them on a regular basis. “Customer service has been excellent,” Gary Waters, Hamilton County Assistant Superintendent of Auxiliary Services, said. “The Board of Education is pleased. The schools are cleaner, and staffing levels and employee productivity are higher than we experienced with in-house service. The quality of our management remains high, which is why we extended the contract with ABM,” Waters added.