Forging Partnerships to Staff Custodial and Cafeteria Roles

 

Hiring adequate staff is challenging in all industries—including education. Partnering with a staffing agency can allow SBOs to focus their efforts on higher-level management and decision-making.

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Glen Greenawalt

 Published July 2026

School systems are built on partnerships. Partnerships between the school and students, parents, faculty, community groups and policymakers are critical for smooth operations. Establishing a partnership with a trusted staffing agency can make recruiting and vetting temporary or permanent janitorial and food service employees easier for school system leaders.

Understanding the Need 

Custodial services in schools include floor care, waste removal, bathroom cleaning, classroom prep and reset, window cleaning, and more. Depending on the size of the school, the resources of the district, and union rules, light maintenance duties may also be included.  

Food services staff not only prepare and serve meals to students, but they also maintain strict kitchen sanitation, manage inventory, and ensure meals meet federal dietary guidelines.  

Every school system handles these needs in its own way. Some delegate staffing decisions to individual principals, while others establish a districtwide hiring process and may move staff back and forth among facilities as needs require.

Why Staffing Is Challenging 

Hiring cleaners or cafeteria workers in any industry is difficult. The labor force is shrinking – there are simply fewer people looking for jobs or willing to participate in the workforce. As of March 2026, the labor force participation rate had dropped to 61.9%, its lowest level since 2015 outside the pandemic period.  

In addition, recent government efforts to discourage immigration have reduced the number of workers coming from other countries legally – workers who often would be hired for entry-level jobs such as janitorial and kitchen positions. 

In a recent survey from the School Nutrition Association, nearly 90% of school nutrition directors cited labor shortages as a significant challenge.  

In addition to these industry-wide pressures, schools have additional challenges that other facilities don’t face.  

  • Everyone who is hired must pass stringent background checks to protect the safety of students.  

  • Budgets – which in a commercial facility could be managed at a departmental level – may face scrutiny from the school district, the school board, unions, and local or state governments.  

  • There are also state and federal programs such as the National School Lunch Program, which provides free and reduced lunches to students in need but also requires adherence to specific dietary guidelines, adding to the complexity of operating a kitchen.  

With all these challenges, is it any wonder that school administrators are struggling to maintain full janitorial and food services staffing levels?

Trying to recruit, vet, and hire janitorial and food services staff in-house eats up time that district leaders can use for higher-level management and decision-making.

How a Staffing Partner Can Help 

Trying to recruit, vet, and hire janitorial and food services staff in-house eats up time that district leaders can use for higher-level management and decision-making. Working with a staffing partner can take those granular tasks away from administrators, allowing them to focus on the critical issues they’re trained to handle. 

A trusted staffing agency can recruit employees – temporary or permanent – to meet the requirements of the school or district. When the school and the agency build a long-term partnership, the staffing company develops a deep understanding of their requirements and can create a pipeline of top candidates to fill the client’s needs as they arise.  

In the same way that school cafeteria managers have food suppliers they rely on week in and week out, school facility managers can have a staffing partner they trust who will provide the cleaning and kitchen staff they need when they need them. The agency does the job posting, recruiting, and background checks, sending only the most qualified candidates to the school for final approval. 

 

Choosing a Staffing Partner 

The choice of staffing partner matters — a lot. Look out for these considerations: 

  • How they classify employees – Many cloud-based staffing firms only provide 1099 independent contractors, which can open a school up to lawsuits, fines, and penalties for employee misclassification. Working with a staffing partner that classifies its workers as W-2 employees avoids those risks. 

  • Experience – The longer a staffing company has been in the business, the more they know about how to attract the best candidates. Be careful of fly-by-night operations. 

  • Commitment to partnership – Staffing works best as part of a long-term relationship. The agency develops a deep understanding of the school’s requirements and becomes a trusted right-hand. Look for an agency that is committed to working together for years to come. 

Summing up 

Hiring janitorial and food services staff doesn’t have to fall on your desk alone. A trusted staffing partner can lift the burden and let administrators get back to doing what they do best: provide a safe and nurturing environment for educating tomorrow’s leaders.

About the Author:

Glen Greenawalt

Glen Greenawalt is CEO of LGC Hospitality.  

Email: gleng@lgcassociates.com

  

   

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