In the U.S., the conversation around school safety often focuses on the threat of violence. Yet a very different serious safety crisis is currently unfolding inside America’s public schools.
Our study considers the overlooked yet growing risk of injuries caused by badly maintained schools and dwindling custodial staff numbers. With schools across the country struggling to fill key non-teaching roles or keep schools safe by funding vital maintenance due to constrained economic circumstances, we closely consider how staffing and facility failures endanger students—and what needs to be done to improve school safety.
One aspect of school safety is the age of the buildings in which pupils (who spend 20% of their day in school buildings) are taught, with many overdue for a significant upgrade.
Outdated Buildings Equal Injured Students
On average, the buildings in which the nation’s public school pupils are taught are nearly 50 years old. Many campuses across the country are due for urgent infrastructure improvements, with 31% of campuses currently using temporary, portable buildings due to the condition of existing classrooms.
Since 2010, 29% of U.S. schools have undergone major renovation work, while 21% were subject to necessary, active repairs during December 2023.
If schools are not regularly maintained, what might be considered minor structural issues, such as a leaky roof, a faulty HVAC (air conditioning) system, or an outdated play area, can quickly become a hazard that can cause student injuries.
According to worrying study data, an estimated 41% of districts need to update or replace their heating, ventilation, and HVAC systems in at least half of their schools – that’s about 36,000 schools nationwide in urgent need of improvements. Any one of those schools could be subject to a serious incident at any time.
The Tracy Learning Center case perfectly illustrates the fact: a broken sprinkler cap, apparently left in a state of disrepair for weeks, allegedly led to a student injury. And it’s an incident that symbolises an all-too familiar pattern in underfunded schools, with routine maintenance indefinitely deferred, and the oversight ultimately leading to preventable disaster.
Mold, Poor Air Quality, and Environmental Hazards
With 40% of public school instructional buildings built before 1970, millions of students spend their schooldays in structures lacking modern ventilation, insulation, and moisture control features.
If a learning space is subject to failing HVAC systems, leaky roofs, and outdated boilers, conditions quickly become ripe for mold growth and poor air quality. What begins as a small leak or temperature irregularity can evolve into a chronic respiratory risk.
Study data reveal that:
- 41% of schools (over 36,000 campuses) are in dire need of an HVAC upgrade
- Only 39% of schools are equipped with an indoor air quality coordinator
- Moisture–related damage was reported in 50% of all GAO visits
- Many old (some almost a century old) buildings still use long–outdated boilers.
Mold can grow within 24 hours and poses major health risks to children, especially those with asthma or other respiratory conditions.
The chart below breaks down the number of school buildings built during different time periods. All schools built during the previous century pose numerous potential environmental risks, though especially those built before 1970.
And the key underlying factor regarding school safety issues is a growing school staff crisis.
A Staffing Crisis That Compounds Safety Issues
A school’s custodian fills a vital role: as well as spotting structural and practical issues, they’re on hand should anything go wrong. Yet the American custodian workforce is comparatively old and getting older.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, as things stand in U.S. schools, more than 55% of school custodians are 50 or older (with only 9% under 30); across all U.S. employees, just 31% exceed that age threshold. Nationwide, the median age of janitorial staff is 47 years old, yet National Education Association (NEA) data confirms an average K–12 custodial member age is 51 years old, having completed an average of 13 years of service.
The role is still predominantly filled by a narrow demographic share of the populace. Two-thirds of school custodial staff members are male, the vast majority white, with some representation from Hispanic/Latino and Black workers.
Yet it’s a role that’s still undervalued, with most school custodians holding a high-school diploma and carrying decades of practical experience. The role of custodian is an indispensable part of a properly functioning school, helping to keep millions of students safe each day.
Trends in this regard have worsened since the pandemic in 2020. Since then, custodial and maintenance employment in K–12 education has fallen by roughly 6%, further widening an alarming gap between retirees and new hires. October 2024 study data showed that 15% of schools now report custodial understaffing.
The current national custodial fill rate is 74%, with 69% of school districts admitting difficulty when it comes to filling key non-teaching positions. Almost a third (32%) of San Antonio’s custodian positions are vacant, with some Minnesota high schools resorting to hiring students on $15 per hour wages to help make up the shortfall. In Palo Alto, staff shortages have led to parents volunteering to fill vacant roles.
“Having dedicated safety or security personnel can prevent 60–70% of potential accidents through early hazard identification,” says Moe Shariff, owner of American S.E.A.L. Patrol Division LLC. “But most charters I’ve encountered run skeleton crews during the busiest parts of the day.”
Simply put, a lack of trained professionals can mean that routine hazards are often missed, with accidents then inevitable.
“Safety has to start with a system,” suggests Senior Trial Attorney Alex Boris of J&Y Law. “When the people who spot hazards every day are not in control of inspections, timelines, or even basic repair dollars, injuries stop being ‘accidents’ and start being predictable outcomes.”
For trained custodians to spot the hazards that cause injuries, they need to be employed in the first place. So why are there so many school custodian vacancies?
Why Custodian Numbers Are Low
One major reason that people (especially much-needed younger candidates) don’t apply for custodian roles is a simple matter of numbers: the money and hours don’t add up. In fact, many education support professionals earn far below a living wage.
The average custodial salary is $39,380 (though many in such a role earn far less). In 2024, the National Average Wage Index listed the U.S. national average pay as $69,850.
Unsurprisingly, 53% of custodial workers are struggling to make ends meet, with 72% of staff members on hourly wages, and 90% suggesting insufficient remuneration is a serious worry, while 29% of custodial workers can’t cover health insurance premiums.
Although 69% live in the community in which they work, 27% say it’s financially difficult to do so. 11% of custodial workers have a moderate or serious problem affording sufficient food, and 9% participate in SNAP. Nationwide, 38% of K–12 support professionals earn less than $25,000 per year, and over 12% earn below $15,000.
And wage rates have fallen on average, with education support professionals now earning 9% less than they did a decade ago. As an illustrative guideline that shows how far custodian earnings have dropped (and how insufficient they are, particularly for the demands the role involves), here are the ten states that pay education support professionals the least (2025 figures).
The States Paying Education Support Professionals The Least
| State | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $27,656 |
| Mississippi | $27,741 |
| Kentucky | $28,088 |
| Kansas | $28,270 |
| Idaho | $28,345 |
| Tennessee | $29,362 |
| New Mexico | $29,457 |
| Louisiana | $29,764 |
| Nebraska | $30,408 |
| Arkansas | $30,415 |
Many custodians are forced to take on second jobs, with 7% holding concurrent employment just to make ends meet. A large proportion rely on public assistance or eventually leave the profession for good. And one in three custodians is laid off every summer and rehired in the fall, a factor that creates enormous instability.
Custodians under union contracts could rely on fair pay, benefits, and job stability: all factors that created a loyal, long-serving workforce. But as school districts were forced to cut costs, many began to hire private cleaning contractors. In Michigan, for example, the state’s share of school districts outsourcing custodial work soared from 6.6% in 2003 to over 52% by 2017.
Nowadays, private cleaning companies struggle to fill contracts, with low wages and rising responsibilities proving a daunting deterrent.
For those who retain or move into a custodian role, the demands are often overwhelming and unfeasible. Key data shows that to safely oversee an average-sized (89,000-square-foot) school requires at least six full-time custodians to meet even basic cleanliness and safety requirements.
Despite this, many schools only employ three or four. The consequences are unsurprising. The California State Auditor’s 2024 report found “numerous maintenance deficiencies that may place students’ safety and learning at risk.”
“We’ll get a call about a ceiling collapse or a flooded hallway, and when we trace it back, it’s almost always due to a warning sign that was missed months earlier,” says Ryan Majewski, General Manager of CWF Restoration. “Many charters simply don’t have facility managers with restoration or safety experience.”
Such a widespread lack of adequate school supervision also exacerbates both the risk of injury and a school’s ability to quickly and effectively deal with often serious mishaps.
Falls, Slips, and Trips: The Leading Cause of Injury in Schools
According to study data, 31.8 staff members out of every 10,000 full-time school employees were injured every year due to falls, slips, or trips, with 70% of all school injuries caused by falls. Violence and injuries by persons or animals was the next highest factor (20 staff members per 10,000), followed by injuries accrued due to exhaustion (11 per 10,000). The most commonly reported injuries were fractures and contusions (59%), sprains and strains (23%), and punctures and lacerations (11%).
Overall, teachers suffered an injury rate of 85 cases per 10,000 full-time workers, putting them at more than double the risk of the average rate across all occupations (180.5). Elementary school students were more likely to suffer falls (85%) and humerus fractures (43%), with high school students more susceptible to injury by assault (17%). 7% of all students sustained intentional injuries.
In terms of playground injuries, the main reason for ER visits was a fall from either a swing, a slide, or a climber. A 10-year retrospective study (Kolbow et al., 2024) that referenced over 25,000 pediatric playground injuries between January 2012 and December 2021 found that in 90.3% of cases, the injured party was either a preschool or elementary-age child, with most of the injured parties being boys (59.3%). 52.4% of injuries involved the head or scalp, 30.4% the face, and 11.9% the mouth.
Accidents on school swings caused most infant (32.7%) and teen (40.0%) injuries; slides and climbers were the most common cause of injuries to preschool (23.1%) and elementary (28.1%) children. 96.5% of all injured pupils were treated and subsequently discharged, with 1.6% requiring hospitalization, and one reported fatality.
According to national injury review data, one in five injuries suffered by children and adolescents occur while they’re at school. These are not unpredictable events; they’re direct results of poor facility management, outdated or damaged playground equipment, and inadequate supervision.
A combination of poorly maintained, unsafe equipment and insufficient numbers of properly trained custodial staff is also at the root of a growth in sports injuries and concussions at school.
Sports Injuries and Concussions: A Growing School Safety Issue
While athletic programs are often an essential part of student life, they’re also a source of rising, preventable injuries—especially traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). And in many schools, sports safety protocols don’t align with student participation numbers or concussion research findings.
Of the 93% of schools with athletic amenities, their suite of features is made up of various key elements. Here are some key sports features, plus the percentage of U.S. schools equipped with those resources.
- Gymnasiums (69%)
- Grass fields (68%)
- Basketball courts (56%)
- Baseball/softball fields (38%)
- Weight rooms (29%)
- Outdoor tracks (28%)
That’s a lot of pupils participating in different kinds of sporting activities: yet many districts are underprepared for concussion prevention or post-injury support.
Just 38% of schools offer return-to-classroom support to pupils who’ve suffered a concussion, while only three-quarters (75%) feature an active concussion or TBI policy. And with only 58% of schools employing staff trained to make post-TBI classroom adjustments, the overall safety risk is clear.
These figures look even worse when we consider the number of concussions and TBIs that occur in schools; with over 50,000 pupils hospitalized every year in the U.S., the frequency and likelihood of such injuries mean schools need to do far more to prepare.
Let’s consider some examples of sporting injury prevalence in U.S. schools. In youth tackle football, competitors suffer (on average) 378 head impacts per season.
In flag football, players suffer eight head impacts every year. 63% of high school football concussions are caused by tackling; in boys’ wrestling, 59% of concussions are caused by takedowns. And in girls’ basketball, 51% of concussions are caused by high-impact collisions with opposition players.
Tough contact sports mean concussions and TBIs. If a school hosts such sports, it must also feature equivalent safety protections.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70% of all ER visits for sports-related TBIs involve children under 18. Among high school athletes, more than two-thirds of concussions result from player collisions—especially in football, basketball, soccer, and lacrosse.
Here are the ten school sports that feature the highest number of concussions.
- Boys’ Tackle Football
- Girls’ Soccer
- Boys’ Lacrosse
- Boys’ Ice Hockey
- Boys’ Wrestling
- Girls’ Lacrosse
- Girls’ Field Hockey
- Girls’ Basketball
- Boys’ Soccer
- Girls’ Softball
Despite appreciating the danger these sports represent, many schools still lack regular inspections of athletic facilities, certified trainers, or formalized injury prevention plans.
Just as with a broken handrail or a leaking HVAC system, poor sporting oversight leads to countless preventable injuries—and in some cases, long-term trauma.
Inadequate facilities and low staff numbers affect many different parts of school life. Another area badly affected by such deficiencies is the school transportation system.
Curbing Transportation Safety Issues
Beyond dangerous school classrooms and football fields, transportation issues can pose major threats to student safety. School buses, crosswalks, and traffic zones are often understaffed, underfunded, or poorly managed.
In the U.S. between 2014 and 2023, there were 971 fatal crashes involving school transportation, causing an average of 108 fatalities a year. Most of the crashes occurred between 7 and 8 am and 3 and 4 pm. Crucially, 65% of assessed schools did not feature any traffic-calming infrastructure during the period in question.
Additionally, 43% of schools do not feature crossing guards, while only 19% have bike lanes. The data clearly shows: school traffic is too often unnecessarily dangerous and underregulated.
Potential Solutions To School Shortages
Some school districts are beginning to explore new solutions. These include robot cleaners, recruitment bonuses, and certification pipelines facilitated by community colleges. But systemic change requires more than tech upgrades or temporary fixes.
Examples of potential solutions include:
- Raising pay and improving support staff benefits
- Stabilizing hiring by adopting year-round employment
- Investing in inspections, better repair protocols, and hazard response systems
- Recognizing custodians as key, non-expendable safety professionals
- Implementing federal and state funding to fix infrastructure deficiencies.
Without financial investment, the necessary changes cannot be implemented. And the problem is much worse in some states than others.
Invest in Safety: Prevent the Next Emergency
By fixing every loose handrail, broken tile, or faulty sprinkler, schools can act before harm occurs. Such problems are not cosmetic issues and should not be considered as such—they’re critical safety concerns. If schools want to keep their students safe, they must provide the basics: regular inspections and maintenance, safe surfaces, clean air, and adequate supervision. These are not luxuries: they’re prevention systems.
Many custodians are forced to take on second jobs, with 7% holding concurrent employment just to make ends meet. A large proportion rely on public assistance or eventually leave the profession for good.
The lesson is clear. School safety isn’t just about emergency drills and lockdown policies. It’s about investing in the invisible labor that prevents emergencies in the first place.
And that means investing in the key custodial staff that fix those handrails, broken tiles, and faulty sprinklers, who keep things running smoothly and safely for our country’s pupils. It’s high time that indispensable school staff employees are afforded the respect and help they deserve, and that every campus is equipped with the right number of appropriately remunerated and trained custodians.
At J&Y Law, we know that a school without a janitor represents a preventable safety risk. We will continue to investigate overlooked school hazards and advocate for families affected by preventable injuries in schools and push for much-needed change.
