Custodian will no longer shred confidential documents in district office

NASHUA – Add shredding confidential documents to the list of things the district’s custodians won’t be required to do. The Board of Education sided with AFSCME 365, the district’s custodial union, during a public grievance hearing last week, ruling that although a custodian has been shredding in the district office for several years, the practice should stop. But most board members were less concerned with whether the work fell under a custodian’s job description, as argued by the custodial union, and more concerned with the access that worker might have to confidential material. “While I clearly think that shredding paper is not beneath the custodial service… I think that’s part of their job,” said board member Sandra Ziehm, according to the meeting minutes. “But with the lack of any policy with reference to confidential information… the confidentiality part of it concerns me greatly.” Ziehm said she plans to ask the board to discuss the creation of a policy regarding confidential material, and who can have access to it. It was the second time in less than a year that the union has won a grievance around whether a menial task should be part of their job description. The grievance was filed after a custodian questioned whether they should be shredding confidential documents. The union argued the work was outside of a custodian’s job description.