An instructional assistant at Rancho Pico Junior High School returned to a William S. Hart Union High School District governing board meeting recently to again raise concerns about custodial shortages at the school and what she described as a lack of response from district officials.
Marisa Caldwell, who works at Rancho Pico Junior High School as an instructional assistant, has addressed the governing board at almost every meeting since May, requesting more transparency surrounding custodial staffing at Rancho Pico and questioning why the district has not provided additional custodial support at the campus.
Caldwell first raised concerns about the school’s custodial staffing during the board’s May 20 meeting, when she spoke on behalf of Josh Lopez, Rancho Pico’s plant manager, who has worked for the district for more than two decades.
Lopez was recently selected as the district’s 2026-27 Classified Employee of the Year.
At the May meeting, Caldwell told the board that Lopez had been working a second job after his regular workday because, she said, his district pay was not enough to support his family.
“The reality is, the pay from our district is not enough to support his family, so after working all day at our school, he has to work a second job in the afternoons to make ends meet, like many of our staff,” Caldwell said during the May 20 meeting.
According to Caldwell, Lopez submitted a formal request to the district seeking an additional custodian, which was denied.
During public comment of the Sept. 23 meeting, Caldwell stated she’s consistently contacted the district via emails, and asked for transparency but “I should not be the only one asking. This board’s job includesholding our district accountable but my question remains, ‘Who holds the board accountable?’” Caldwell said.
All junior high schools in the district are staffed with at least four custodians and a plant manager who oversees custodial operations, according to Jon Carrino, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services.
Custodial staffing allocations are based on several factors, including student enrollment, the number of classrooms and the overall square footage of each campus, Carrino said in June.
For the 2026-27 school year, Rancho Pico’s enrollment declined, and Carrino said the district did not determine that adding a fourth custodian was warranted.
Rancho Pico is the smallest junior high school in the district and has the lowest student and teacher enrollment among the district’s junior high campuses, Carrino said during a brief phone call Thursday.
The district also uses staffing ratios recommended by the California Association of School Business Officials in conjunction with the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT, when determiningcustodial staffing levels.
Carrino confirmed Thursday that Lopez had submitted a request regarding custodial staffing at Rancho Pico. The district responded on July 6 denying Lopez’s request.
