Diana Agyeman

A photo of a Hayfield restroom after students vandalized the toilet.

Our school is a place we come to learn, grow, and build everlasting memories with the people we’ve met. However, behind every clean classroom, gym, spotless hallway and well-maintained bathroom, is our hard working custodians who commit their time and effort to ensure that our school environment is well kept and welcoming for everyone.

Every day, custodians work persistently to clean and maintain the entire school building. By cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping floors, disinfecting surfaces, taking out trash, or fixing things that needed to be repaired, custodians do everything they can to make students have a safe and clean environment to learn in. But, a lot of times, their work goes unnoticed. Imagine cleaning a whole school just for students to mess it up all over again.

“Vandalism is the most challenging repair issue I face. When bathrooms are vandalized, I have to fix what has been [broken], and the other custodians have to come and clean it thoroughly so students can use it again. If I cannot repair [what] has been broken in the bathroom, then I have to close it, and students cannot use the bathroom till it’s fixed. The bathroom situation worsens each year,” Byron Rodas, a custodian at Hayfield, said.

Rodas believes Hayfield isn’t necessarily messier than other schools.

“I believe students challenge each other, which is a common occurrence in many schools. The TikTok challenges have been particularly problematic. There have been numerous incidents where students damaged toilets and sinks. This vandalism was part of students trying to outdo other schools in these challenges,” Rodas said.

Another custodian commented on the common tragedies that occur in the bathrooms.

“The worst thing you students do is push water bottles into the toilets. It causes water to splash out and creates a mess, and they also leave [messes] on the floor which is very annoying to clean up and to deal with,” Monica Mensah, a custodian at Hayfield, said.

A custodian, who has elected not to be named, agrees that the mess at Hayfield can be hard to manage at times.

“I don’t think Hayfield is a messier school than others, but I cannot say much because I haven’t been at other schools, so I don’t know how they are. The bathrooms are getting worse, but I wouldn’t say as bad as before, just a little bit more messy. But also, once again, I cannot say much because when I go, it’s not too bad. But they still break things like the soap dispensers, tissue dispensers, and sometimes the seat cover. Something I wish students would do to make my job better is to just do the right thing and not make a mess,” an anonymous custodian at Hayfield said.

Even though Hayfield isn’t the filthiest school out there, just the act of breaking objects in the bathroom is a major sign of disrespect to custodians.

“The bathroom is the worst thing to clean. Some students are just nasty and do crazy stuff such as clogging the toilet with toilet paper and other things that shouldn’t be in the toilet,” Dina Agyemang, a custodian at Hayfield, said. “I wish students would be more respectful.”

Custodians play an important role in maintaining a clean, safe, and welcoming environment for students and staff. Their hard work goes unnoticed, but without them, schools would not be cleaned as they are. Showing respect and appreciation- whether it’s a simple thank you or cleaning up after yourself when you make a mess- helps create a positive and supportive school community.