Tim Curtin opens his car door and a blistering wind hits his face like a million shards of glass. He feels like getting back in his car and turning right around, but instead slips on his heavy-duty boots and marches on. Curtin reaches for his lanyard and grabs his “Head Custodian” badge in order to scan into the main building of Grant High School. It’s the snowiest day of the year, and school has been canceled. “I have never once missed a snow day … I am the one who gets called if there is something wrong with the building, but that’s what I signed up for and I really enjoy doing it,” says Curtin.
This scenario is nothing new for Curtin, who has been at Grant for over five years. The career has completely flooded his falls, winters, springs and summers — custodians are some of the only Portland Public Schools (PPS) staff members mandated to work year-round. “The philosophy of a school (custodian) is, you’re never done … and you can tell by my shoes because I put a lot of miles on them throughout the year,” Curtin says.
Custodians are the unsung heroes who keep Grant safe and clean and maintain a comfortable learning environment. They arrive an hour before school starts, switching off shifts throughout the day and late into the night. There is nothing the custodians won’t do to keep Grant looking, and feeling, its best.
Curtin grew up on a farm with six siblings in Damascus, Oregon, and attended Barlow High School. Custodial work has long been a part of the Curtin family. His father was a custodian for over 30 years, and his brother was the head custodian at Grant before he was. Similar
to his father and brother, Curtin began custodial work when he was just 17 years old. “I started as a part-time student helper, to full-time student helper, then to a roving assistant, then to an actual assistant … and finally I became the head custodian here at Grant,” says Curtin. In total, it took over 14 years to achieve this title. While some of his other colleagues found it too overwhelming, Curtin has always had passion and love for his job: “It simply taught me to work hard.”
Curtin has been working multiple jobs for 38 years — being head custodian has allowed him to cut back on his labor for the first time. Since childhood, he has found it crucial to balance love for his work with making time for himself. “I absolutely love my job and I enjoy the challenge of making sure the school is ready to go and is running smoothly. But that’s life — you need to be able to get things done by a certain time. Just like school work,” Curtin says. “I have not, in many, many years, missed a single day of work.”
Even though his determination eases the challenge of the exhausting work, certain aspects are still a struggle. For instance, the severity of summer staffing shortages. When Curtin started at PPS, he remembers longer summers and easier cleaning projects. Curtin says, “We used to have over 600 custodians in the district, and now we’re at about half. That makes
things difficult.” Nonetheless, he is hopeful that things will change.
Although Curtin cherishes his work, he realizes that it’s time to start thinking about retirement. “I hope to retire at my 40-year mark, a record that only around nine to 10 people have in the entire district,” Curtin says proudly. Whenever Curtin does retire, he knows he will dearly miss working with Grant students and staff. He says, “Grant students, and staff, are really some of the best … in the district.”
The next time you see Tim Curtin in the halls, take the time to be appreciative — he is one of the most experienced and dedicated staff members in the district. Throughout his career, Curtin has defined excellence in his work every day at Grant. Because of this experience, Curtin explains his most important piece of advice: “Graduate! Take as much knowledge you can get here, because college is expensive and I guarantee you will use everything you know from here.”
