School cleaning contracts near you, from private schools to district RFPs
Janitorial sends school cleaning contracts from private schools, charter schools, daycares and school district solicitations in your service area to your feed, with square footage, visits per week, the after-dismissal cleaning window and a monthly price range already calculated. A 25,000 sq ft private school cleaned five nights a week prices at roughly 5,750 to 6,750 USD a month in Texas, so you know before the walkthrough whether the account fits your crew.
Commercial and public-sector work only. Cancel any time. Your pricing data stays yours.
Price a school cleaning contract
The calculator below opens on the school facility type, 25,000 sq ft and five visits a week, which is what a typical private K to 8 campus asks for. Change the square footage to match the building, set your state, add restroom restocking, monthly floor care or a day porter if the request lists them, and you get labor hours per visit, crew size and a monthly price range. No account needed.
AI bid pricing
Enter the facility details. Get a monthly contract price, a crew plan and a proposal preview.
Results
Monthly contract price
6,000 USD
Price per sq ft0.326 USD
- Low
- Target
- High
- Production rate (sq ft per labor hour)
- Labor hours per visit
- Crew size
- Time on site
- Monthly labor hours
- Labor cost
- Supplies
- Overhead
- Margin
Note on the estimate
The estimate uses general industry ranges for commercial cleaning production rates and wages. On the Pro plan you set your own production rates and wage rates per area, and every price in your account uses them.
Proposal preview
Scope of work
Cleaning schedule
Pricing
- Labor cost
- Supplies
- Overhead
- Margin
- Monthly contract price
Full PDF proposals with your logo are part of every plan.
What school cleaning contracts look like
Schools are cleaned every school day, after dismissal and before the building opens again. That makes most contracts five nights a week during the school year, with a lighter schedule over summer and a deep clean before students come back in August. The cleaning window is short, often 3:30 pm to 11 pm, so the crew size matters as much as the hours.
The building mix decides the labor. Classrooms clean quickly once desks are cleared, but restrooms are used hard, cafeterias need tables, floors and trash done every day, and gyms, locker rooms and nurse's offices need disinfection. The Janitorial pricing engine uses 2,800 sq ft per labor hour for schools, slower than an office at 3,000, because of that mix.
Who signs depends on the kind of school:
- Private and parochial schools hire like a business. The head of school, business manager or facilities manager asks two to four companies for proposals and signs a 12 month agreement, usually renewed every year.
- Charter schools sit in between. Many follow public purchasing rules for larger contracts but move faster than a district, and some lease space in office buildings with their own cleaning needs.
- Public school districts buy through formal solicitations (RFPs, invitations to bid) posted on the district's purchasing page or a state portal, with bid bonds, prevailing wage rules in some states and multi-year terms.
- Daycares, preschools and Montessori schools are smaller, often under 10,000 sq ft, and care most about sanitizing toys, cots and changing areas.
School cleaning scope buyers expect in a proposal
Facilities managers compare bids area by area. A proposal laid out the same way is easier to score and easier to approve. This is the scope most school requests describe and the scope the Janitorial proposal builder drafts when you bid on a school.
| Area | Nightly tasks | Periodic tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Classrooms | Empty trash and recycling, vacuum or dust mop, spot mop spills, wipe desks and door handles, clean whiteboards when cleared | Carpet extraction, high dusting, vent and light cleaning |
| Restrooms | Clean and disinfect toilets, urinals, sinks and partitions, mop with disinfectant, restock paper and soap, empty sanitary bins | Machine scrub grout and floors |
| Cafeteria and kitchen areas | Wipe and sanitize tables and seats, sweep and mop floors, empty trash, clean entry glass | Strip and wax tile, degrease floor drains |
| Gym and locker rooms | Dust mop the court, disinfect benches and locker room fixtures, mop showers | Court floor maintenance per the district's flooring vendor |
| Hallways and entries | Vacuum mats, dust mop, spot mop, clean entry glass, empty trash | Strip and wax, scrub and recoat |
| Offices and nurse's office | Empty trash, dust, vacuum, disinfect nurse's room surfaces and cots | Upholstery and high dusting |
| Summer and breaks | Not applicable | Full deep clean of every room, floor refinishing, carpet extraction, window washing |
Price the summer deep clean as its own line. Districts and private schools budget it separately, and a proposal that hides it inside the monthly fee looks expensive next to bids that do not.
How much do schools pay for cleaning?
Schools pay a flat monthly fee during the school year, and the price follows labor hours per night. These are the ranges the Janitorial pricing engine produces for five nights a week with a 22 percent target margin, supplies and overhead included, before add-ons.
| School size | Example | State | Labor hours per night | Crew | Monthly price range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15,000 sq ft | Preschool or small private school | Texas | 5.4 | 2 | 3,450 to 4,050 USD |
| 25,000 sq ft | Private K to 8 | Texas | 8.9 | 3 | 5,750 to 6,750 USD |
| 25,000 sq ft | Private K to 8 | California | 8.9 | 3 | 7,800 to 9,150 USD |
| 50,000 sq ft | Elementary school | Ohio | 17.9 | 5 | 11,550 to 13,550 USD |
| 50,000 sq ft | Elementary school | New York | 17.9 | 5 | 16,300 to 19,100 USD |
| 80,000 sq ft | Middle school | Georgia | 28.6 | 8 | 17,900 to 21,000 USD |
| 120,000 sq ft | High school | Florida | 42.9 | 11 | 27,650 to 32,500 USD |
That works out to about 0.25 USD per sq ft per month in lower-wage states and 0.34 to 0.35 USD in California and New York. Add-ons change the number fast. On the 25,000 sq ft Texas school, restroom restocking lifts the range to 6,150 to 7,250 USD, and a monthly strip and wax of the hard floors lifts it to 8,750 to 10,250 USD. A day porter on a 50,000 sq ft Texas elementary school takes it from 11,550 to 13,550 USD to 13,950 to 16,400 USD.
If a private school only wants three nights a week, the 25,000 sq ft Texas example drops to 3,450 to 4,050 USD. Say in the proposal which rooms are skipped on off nights, because restrooms and the cafeteria still need daily attention.
How do I get cleaning contracts with schools?
Start with private schools, charters and daycares in your area, which hire through one decision maker and sign in weeks. Then register on your district's vendor portal and your state procurement site to receive public school bids, which take longer but run for one to three years with renewals.
- 1 Register as a vendor before the bid drops. Districts post solicitations on their purchasing page and state portals with 2 to 6 week deadlines. Vendors who are already registered get the notice; everyone else finds out late. Paid alert services collect these notices in one inbox, and our comparison of commercial cleaning bidding websites shows what each costs.
- 2 Go to the pre-bid walkthrough. Many school RFPs make it mandatory. It is also where you learn the real square footage, floor types and which areas the current contractor struggles with.
- 3 Price from production rates, not a guess. Evaluators compare labor hours per building. A bid with a clear hours, crew and supplies breakdown scores better than a lump sum.
- 4 Bring the paperwork schools ask for. General liability, workers compensation, a janitorial bond, background checks for anyone on campus with students, and a drug-free workplace policy are standard. Public bids may also require a bid bond and a performance bond.
- 5 Show how you cover absences. A school cannot open with dirty restrooms. Name the crew lead and say how fast a replacement cleaner arrives.
- 6 Separate the summer deep clean and event cleanups. Graduations, sports events and evening performances are easier to approve as per-event prices.
How Janitorial helps you win school cleaning contracts
School requests arrive in your feed with what a facilities manager cares about: square footage, nights per week, the cleaning window, add-ons and the bid due date.
- Contract request feed with email alerts on every plan, filtered to your service area and the facility types you clean, so private schools, charters, preschools and daycares near you show up without cold calling.
- Public-sector feed on Growth and Pro with school district, city, county and federal janitorial solicitations (NAICS 561720) matched to your area, so district RFPs land next to private requests instead of in five different portals.
- AI bid pricing that starts from the school production rate and your state's labor cost, with every number visible and editable before you send it.
- Proposal builder with 3 templates and PDF export with your logo on Starter; on Growth the AI proposal builder drafts the area-by-area school scope, the after-dismissal schedule, a pricing table and terms from the request.
- Price history per facility type on Growth, so you can compare your school prices with the bids you won and lost.
Starter is 79 USD a month or 468 USD a year for one service area. Growth covers three areas and adds the public-sector feed with school district bids.
School cleaning contracts, common questions
Are there school cleaning contracts near me?
Yes, when a school or district in your service area posts a request or a solicitation. Janitorial matches private school, charter and daycare requests to the cleaning companies that cover that area, and Growth adds school district and public-sector bids, each with a monthly price range attached.
How much do schools pay for janitorial services?
Most schools pay a flat monthly fee during the school year. Five nights a week, a 25,000 sq ft private school runs about 5,750 to 6,750 USD a month in Texas, and a 50,000 sq ft elementary school about 11,550 to 13,550 USD in Ohio, before restocking, floor care or a day porter.
How often do school cleaning contracts go out to bid?
Public school districts usually rebid janitorial contracts every 1 to 5 years, often a one-year term with up to four renewals, and the bid stays open for 2 to 6 weeks. Private schools sign 12 month agreements and review the cleaner every year, usually in spring before the next budget.
Do public schools have to put cleaning contracts out to bid?
In most states, yes. Public school districts must advertise service contracts above their state's purchasing threshold through a formal bid or request for proposals. Smaller purchases can use quotes from a few vendors. Private schools have no such rule and simply ask local companies for proposals.
What insurance do I need for school cleaning contracts?
Schools usually require general liability (often 1 million USD per occurrence and 2 million aggregate), workers compensation, auto liability, a janitorial bond and background checks for every cleaner on campus. District bids may add bid and performance bonds. Ask for the exact limits before you price the job.
Do schools pay to post a cleaning request?
No. Schools, districts and facilities managers post cleaning jobs at no cost. Cleaning companies pay a flat subscription, with no per-lead charges and no credits.
Get school cleaning contracts in your area
Choose your service area, select schools as a facility type and bid with the price already calculated.