After three failed referendum attempts, DeKalb School District 428 has been looking for ways to stay out of the red.

One cost-cutting idea the board of education has tossed around is outsourcing the custodial and kitchen services.

Casey Mascal, vice president of the DeKalb Federation of Support Staff, and the 53 other union members are not happy with this idea. Mascal and 18 of his co-workers raised their concerns with the school board at its meeting on Oct. 6.

“We are here because we really, seriously want to keep our jobs,” he said at the meeting.

Mascal invited school board members and district administrators to tour the buildings to see the pride the current staff takes in its work and the personal touches that would not come with a cleaning service.

Jed Dunbar, assistant superintendent of human resources and services, said the district doesn’t dispute the good job the current staff is doing, but the district must continue to look for ways to do things more cost-efficiently.

“We certainly agree our custodians do a great job,” Dunbar said.

He said the school district is looking at various cost-effective measures, including keeping the current staff. Even if the district outsources the services, Dunbar hopes to include the current staff in the arrangement.

While no official bids have been made, Dunbar said he expects the issue to come before the school board soon.

The district currently employs 12 cooks, six maintenance workers and 36 custodians to serve 12 buildings. Mascal said the support staff goes above and beyond what a cleaning service would do and wants to make sure the school board sees that.

The district needs to look at its job descriptions and then sit down and talk with the federation, Mascal said.

The custodians and maintenance crews are the ones who set up for meetings and assemblies and clean up after them. They also set up and clean up lunch every day. They do preventative maintenance, as well as their own electrical, plumbing and carpentry jobs, Mascal said.

While outsourcing a cleaning service may save money, Mascal said the price might not match the work done, especially if separate bids have to be taken for each electrical or plumbing job the current crew takes care of already.

“Bid apples for apples,” Mascal said.