Information on bids received for contracting Norton Elementary School cleaning are an agenda item for the Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education meeting Monday evening (October 12th).

Faced with the need for two elementary school custodians in a time of increasing budget challenges, the board on August 17th approved a request from the administration for permission to conduct a cost comparison of the savings generated from hiring an outside company to clean.

In making the request, Superintendent Roger Rathburn said, “We’re asking to go out and see what it would cost to have two of the elementary buildings cleaned by a company as opposed to hiring staff.  We don’t know that it will save money.  We want to go out and find out if it will before we’ve hired two more individuals.”  Rathburn said the potential savings from the contracting approach would come from not having to provide a health care package and retirement benefits.

Other items of business include a report on the findings from research regarding single bus runs, an update on current issues and legislation regarding bus inspections, and a review by Rathburn on the budget trends over the past five years.

The meeting will be held in the District Training Room at the Central Administrative Offices on Sixth Avenue, beginning at 7 p.m.