By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com

A staffing shortage has one local school district raising wages in an effort to make draw needed workers.

With students returning to class next Wednesday, Howell Public Schools current custodial staffing levels are well below the established standard for the district. Ideally, HPS would have 48 custodians on staff, but currently only have 30.

Superintendent Erin MacGregor said this isn’t a problem unique to the district, and that employers all over are having a difficult time getting hourly employees. He brought a proposal to the Board of Education, Monday, hoping to make the job more attractive.

The Board of Education ultimately approved raising day and evening custodian wages from $12.05 per hour to $15.50. The lead custodian is being bumped from $13.00 to $16.50 per hour.

A memo from MacGregor to the Board states that the increase is more on par with current market standards and makes Howell more competitive in the region. The changes will cost the district an estimated $198,000. MacGregor wrote that they will utilize $165,000 in savings from last school year to help offset it, but will need to build it into their budget assumptions moving forward.

Photo: Rose Davis, a custodian at Challenger Elementary School in Howell.