Long before students file into classrooms and long after the final bell fades, another school day is still happening.
It happens in hallways after sports practices. It happens in cafeterias after lunch rushes. It happens in classrooms where paper scraps, dust, spills, and scuffed floors quietly tell the story of hundreds of children moving through a building every day.
That is the world of Elmhurst School District 205 custodial workers, and this week, those workers had a different kind of cleanup to celebrate.
The district’s custodians, represented by SEIU Local 73, secured a new union contract that includes wage increases and several benefit improvements. The agreement was approved by the Elmhurst District 205 Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting, marking a new chapter for a group of employees whose work is essential but often unnoticed.
According to SEIU Local 73, the contract includes a $4.25-per-hour wage increase spread over four years. The union also said members won fixed insurance premium contributions, longevity pay, retirement stipends, increased life insurance coverage, and an additional personal day.
For many families, those details may sound like ordinary contract language. For workers, they can mean something much more practical: a steadier paycheck, more predictable health costs, a little more room in the budget, and a stronger reason to stay in the job.
The people who keep schools running after everyone leaves
Public school contracts often draw attention when they involve teachers, administrators, or major spending debates. Custodial workers rarely get the same level of public focus.
Yet their work touches nearly every part of a school day.
They prepare buildings before students arrive. They clean classrooms, restrooms, offices, gyms, cafeterias, and common spaces. They respond to the daily messes that come with hundreds or thousands of people sharing public buildings. They help keep schools safe, usable, and ready for the next morning.
That is why this contract carries more weight than a simple wage update. It is also a reminder that a school system depends on many kinds of labor, including the work that happens outside the spotlight.
When a hallway is clean, few people think about it. When it is not, everyone notices.
What the union says workers gained
SEIU Local 73 framed the agreement as a meaningful win for Elmhurst D205 custodians.
The wage increase is the headline number: $4.25 more per hour over four years. But the benefits may be just as important for workers trying to manage rising costs.
Fixed insurance premium contributions can give employees more certainty when planning household budgets. Longevity pay rewards workers who stay with the district over time. Retirement stipends acknowledge that long-term public school employees are not just passing through. Increased life insurance coverage and an additional personal day give workers greater security and flexibility outside of work.
Mayela Ruiz, a custodian and union bargaining committee member, said the contract puts workers in a better position to keep improving in the future.
That line matters because labor agreements are rarely just about the current year. They set the tone for what workers can expect later, what the district values, and how both sides may approach the next round of negotiations.
The district approved the deal, but details remain limited.
At Tuesday’s board meeting, Elmhurst D205 board members approved the agreement unanimously, according to Patch. Board President Athena Arvanitis was absent.
Joseph Schumacher, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, told the board the agreement was designed to help attract and retain strong employees while staying fiscally responsible.
That sentence captures the balance school districts often try to strike. They need dependable workers. They also have to answer to taxpayers, budget limits, and long-term financial planning.
Still, one notable part of the meeting was what was not said publicly. Patch reported that district officials did not lay out the full details of the agreement during the meeting, and the full contract had not yet been posted online at the time of the report.
That leaves the public with the broad outline of the deal, but not every line of the final agreement.
Why this matters beyond the custodial staff
A contract like this may look small from a distance, but it fits into a larger story happening in schools across the country.
Districts are competing to keep reliable support staff. Workers are dealing with higher living costs. Families want clean, safe, well-maintained buildings. School leaders want stability. Unions want contracts that recognize the value of physically demanding jobs that are often overlooked.
In that setting, wages are only one part of the equation.
A district can offer a raise, but if health insurance costs keep climbing or long-term workers see little reward for staying, retention can remain a problem. That is why the non-wage pieces of this agreement are worth watching.
Longevity pay says experience matters. Retirement stipends say years of service deserve recognition. Fixed premium contributions say workers should have some predictability when it comes to health costs.
Those are not flashy benefits. They are practical ones.
A quiet labor win with a local message.
SEIU Local 73 leaned into a playful message after the agreement, saying Elmhurst custodial workers “cleaned up” in the new contract. The phrase is catchy, but the story behind it is more serious.
For custodians, the agreement is about more than a slogan. It is about working conditions, family budgets, job security, and respect.
For Elmhurst families, it is a reminder that schools are not maintained by accident. The buildings students enter each morning are kept ready by people whose names may not appear on honor rolls, sports rosters, or classroom newsletters.
They are still part of the education system.
A clean classroom does not teach a lesson by itself, but it helps create the place where learning can happen. A safe hallway, a functioning building, and a prepared school environment all depend on the workers who handle the details most people never see.
What comes next
The new contract begins in July and runs through June 2030, giving both the district and workers a four-year framework.
The next thing to watch is whether Elmhurst D205 posts the full agreement publicly, giving residents and employees a clearer look at the final terms.
For now, the message from the union is clear: custodial workers believe they have made real progress.
And for a group whose work often begins when the crowd is gone, this contract puts them briefly at the center of the story.
