Chicago Schools Extending Service Provider Contracts to Keep on Top of Cleaning

May 27, 2021

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) faces challenges maintaining the numerous facilities that make up the third largest education system in the country. The subject of a 2018 investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times, dozens of CPS school buildings were found to be dirty and infested with rodents. After the investigation, CPS officials hired 200 more custodians to rectify the situation. To keep on top of cleaning throughout the summer, CPS is currently looking to extend contracts with two private facilities management companies for three more months at a cost of US$74 million from their school year budget, the Sun-Times reports.

CPS contracts with the private facilities management companies—Sodexo and Aramark—were scheduled to end this June. However, the proposal to extend the contract until September 30 giving CPS more time to find possible replacement companies was proposed at a recent Chicago Board of Education meeting. The two companies have provided cleaning and maintenance to the district since 2014 under a pilot program which included a few schools but now is districtwide to its more than 600 buildings.

In an email to principals earlier this week, Clarence Carson, the district facilities chief, said an extension was necessary “to ensure essential facility services are not interrupted.”

“We know how important it is for this eventual transition to proceed as smoothly as possible, and this extension will help ensure a successful transition as we work through our evaluation of vendors to serve under a new management structure,” Carson said in the email.

Latest Articles

Troy Harrison
April 28, 2025 Jeff Cross

Kindness Isn’t Weakness

April 28, 2025 Timothy Johnson

Knoxville Entrepreneur Scores a Touchdown With Cleaning Niche

April 25, 2025 Jeff Cross

Understanding Climate Risk Reporting

Sponsored Articles

The First Choice for Your Facility Maintenance Needs
April 2, 2025

The First Choice for Your Facility Maintenance Needs

March 19, 2025 Sponsored by SPARTAN CHEMICAL CO.

Spartan Chemical Recognized as a Safer Choice® Partner of the Year for 2024

March 19, 2025 Sponsored by SOFIDEL AMERICAN CORP

Welcome to the New Papernet World

Recent News

nursing home

Historic Woman’s Study Threatened

Award-Winning Cleaning Tips Celebrated

New Study Finds Measles Could Become Endemic if Childhood Vaccination Rates Don’t Improve