Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-05-02
DUTIES OF ]AN|TOR
IN SCHOOLS VARIED
"Jack of All Trades" Applies
to Men Who Are Seeking
Raise in Salary.

Special policeman, fireman, gardener
messenger. painter, mechanic and clean.
Or of virtually anything and everything
These are merely a few of the varied
duties which come in the scope of an
employe of the District public school
system classified as CANTOR
A school official recently made an ef-
fort to compile the duties of school
aanitor for the purpose of submitting
statistics to members of Congress in an
effort to obtain a decent living wage
for the custodian force. Finally, after
hours Of study. he reached the conclu-
sion that school janitor must DO a
':jack of all trades" And this def1ni-
tion is the best thus far advanced.
Working from ten to eighteen hours a
day. under Rll kinds of conditions. the
1anitors are rewarded with salary OF
$3.50 a year. plus the government bonus
of $40. They were recommended in
the board of education's emergency in
crease pay bill for SO per cent in
crease, but Congress totally ignored
this provision. They also were over
looked in the recent District appropria-
tion bill, and now have taken concerted
action to have 1t amended so as to be
granted the desired increase.
Long Hours for JnnitOrs.
During the winter in the I'VE sma' :"
hours. sometimes as early as 3 am.
the school janitors report for duty at
the buildings to get them heated around
20 degrees Farenheit before the teach
ers and pupils arrive at 8 o'clock. From
that time until late in the evening the
Janitors always are on the job.
While busy cleaning throughout the
day. they are interrupted many times
by complaining teach ers-sometimes
its too much heat in a certain room
and again it's TOO cold" Then. dur
Ing recesses. they have to drop their
mops to keep some mischievous boy
from nowballlng pedestrian or keep
Many times during the day. also. a
teacher will want a janitor to do her
a small favor"
In the spring and fall, when the
teachers and children plant bulbs and
seeds for their school gardens. the
janitor is called upon to supervise the
work. He lays out the plans. and in
some instances does all the work con-
nected with the planting of the seeds
or bulbs except the actual planting.
This. Of course. is done by the teach
ers and children. The janitor's work
on the garden is not finished there
he has to watch the flowers bloom.
water them when Jupiter Pluvius"
fails. and last but not least, keep out
the ever-growing weeds.
Jack OF All Trades"
Occasionally clock in one of the
clasrooms will go on strike. Imme-
diately the janitor is called on the
job. If his knowledge Of the me-
chanical makeup of a timepiece is
vague and his persistent coaxing fails
to restore 1T to running order. a legit-
innate clock mechanic is ultimately
put on the job. But this is very sell
dom. For in most cases recently.
when a clock failed to work the jan
itor was successful in putting it in
order.
With their mult;farious duties and
low pay. many Of the janitors have
remained loyal to the school service.
hopeful from day to day that Con-
Eress would realize their need for
increased wages and grant 1t. Some
however. after a year or more of pa
tfent waiting. lost all hope and Sc
cured more lucrative positions in the
government service and others re-
turned to the farm, whence many of
the members of the custodian force
OF the schools had left for city life.
Recently the janitorial force made
plans for q wholesale walkout to I'm
press on Congress the dire need for
financial reliefs After CAREFUL copsid-
Grafton, and with promises from sew
erAl members OF Congress and school
Officials that they would do GAL In their
power to obtain a substantial Increase
in pay for them, the janitors voted
to remain on their jobs throughout
the summer.