Data supporting layoffs were flawed

By Bill Parish

The Portland Tribune, Jul 16, 2002, Updated Oct 30, 2009

At the dramatic Portland school board meeting on July 8 in which 300 permanent custodians were effectively fired, a few of them wept in public testimony.

Acting Superintendent Jim Scherzinger, a widely respected and competent administrator, was asked if the district was willing to continue negotiations with custodial workers, and he replied, “That was up to HR.”

Unfortunately, Human Resources Director Steve Goldschmidt, who some think is running the district, did not bother to attend this crucial board meeting.

Scherzinger now is caught in a managerial vise whose jaws are management incompetence in the human resources area and the public’s growing lack of confidence in the district administration.

Everyone knows the district is in a budget crisis, and custodians made dramatic wage and benefit concessions as team players would. Custodians also have had their ranks cut in half the last five years and have been recognized as efficient, cost-effective employees important in holding down crucial maintenance in an aging infrastructure. Custodians also are the front line for student safety and security and a variety of other tasks beyond simple janitorial services.

Sadly, the district’s analysis used to justify subcontracting custodial workers was flawed from the start because it compared head custodial wages in Portland to overall average custodial wages at other districts, including Beaverton, and assumed savings of $7.13 per hour or $4.5 million per year.

What also wasn’t discussed is that the district received two proposals for subcontracting custodial work. One proposal was for $14 million from Tualatin Valley Workshop, roughly the current cost, and the second for $9.6 million from Portland Habilitation Center. Goldschmidt presented the latter’s proposal to the board.

Acording to an audit of PHC by the Secretary of State’s office dated Sept. 27, 2000, more than two-thirds of the rehabilitation center’s workers are severely mentally handicapped or chemically dependent, according to a recent state audit. The question is not whether or not to help these workers but rather: Is the K-12 system the right place for the center when it has no experience in this type of setting?

Portland Public Schools has suffered dearly from a declining tax base because of higher power rates and the resulting rapid decline in the business environment.

Of course, losing top employers such as Willamette Industries to hostile takeovers by the likes of Weyerhaeuser also is decimating the tax base Ñ and it’s a little ironic that Steve Goldschmidt’s brother, Neil, did the public relations for Weyerhaeuser and helped quell local opposition to the takeover, thus costing the schools millions in support.

Bill Parish is a registered investment adviser. In May, the Portland Public Schools custodial workers asked Parish & Co. to do an independent analysis regarding the district’s decision to outsource custodial jobs. Parish’s Web site is www.billparish.com.

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