5 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS - Jeff Jinar, custodian
Butler County is filled with a variety of people doing interesting things.
This weekly feature offers snapshots of some of them by asking them five questions. The latest installment appears below.
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As of June 10, the chalkboards remain clean and trash cans empty at Haine Middle School, where Jeff Jinar works as a custodian.
Although cleaning up after students keeps Jinar busy, the 14-year employee has plenty to do even after the school year ends.
Here, he shares insights about his work:
QUESTION: What is the ratio of janitors to students in schools where you work?ANSWER: There are close to 1,500 students in the elementary and middle schools combined. It’s myself and a main guy here during the day, and we have an evening custodian at night. There’s a lot of territory for two guys to cover.
QUESTION: How many bags of trash do 1,500 students generate?ANSWER: On an average school day, maybe 40 bags. That could increase (at the end of the year). You could probably go in excess of 50, easy.
QUESTION: Do you have a theory on which grade levels are the messiest?ANSWER: Actually, I think the younger ones because they haven’t learned a lot yet. First, second graders — maybe third. As they get a little bit older they get a little bit better. Or you hope they do.
QUESTION: What about lockers? What kinds of things get left behind?ANSWER: It’s surprising, not so much the lockers but the lost and found. I call it the lost and never found because it seems like (often) the kids never come back for everything. It could be lunch boxes, eye glasses, school projects. It’s an endless supply of things. ... We have a lot of retainers that are lost.
QUESTION: How does your job change during the summer?ANSWER: It could be anything from weeding the grounds to unloading a truck with supplies to moving classrooms. It’s a nice change. ... It’s something different every day.
