Duval County Public Schools expects to save more than $3 million a year by replacing contracted custodians with district employees, a shift now being tested at three Jacksonville schools.

The district announced the pilot program on Monday, Oct. 26. Spring Park Elementary School, Matthew Gilbert Middle School and Andrew Jackson High School are the first campuses to make the switch. Under the new model, custodians become DCPS employees who report directly to their school site rather than to an outside company. The district said it plans to expand the program to additional schools through a gradual transition in coming years.

Jim Culbert, chief officer of operations and technology services for DCPS, said the change gives schools more control over day-to-day cleaning and maintenance. "Our custodians are often among the first people to arrive and the last to leave each day, and their work has a direct impact on every school," Culbert said in the announcement.

The move also aims to give individual campuses greater flexibility to address their own facility needs, according to the district.

Among the first to transition is Malecia Simmons, who recently joined DCPS as a lead custodian after working in custodial roles at district schools for 26 years. Simmons had previously served those schools through a contractor. Culbert said employees like Simmons represent the dedication custodial teams bring to schools every day.

The district acknowledged that startup costs for the pilot are higher than the current arrangement. DCPS said it expects long-term savings to outweigh those early investments as the program grows. The more-than-$3-million annual savings figure applies to full district-wide implementation, not the three-school pilot alone.

The district said additional schools will be brought into the initiative as the program grows, though it has not specified which campuses come next.