He got a ‘broom’ with a view!
After 17 years cleaning up after students in Albany schools, head custodian Timothy Walters decided to skip the trip home altogether — by secretly moving into the building he was paid to mop.
“I had no where else to go,” Walters, 36, told The Post of his decision to make Hackett Middle School his digs. “I was living with my sister and her boyfriend, but they needed time alone to deal with their own problems. I was already paying my partner child support for our four teenage children and I didn’t have enough to get my own place.”
In May, the district suspended Walters without pay while he was being investigated, but he finally resigned on June 23, district spokesman Ron Lesko said, according to the Times Union.
The cost-cutting custodian came clean last October about turning a fourth-floor room above the auditorium into a makeshift studio apartment, complete with multiple beds, a mini fridge and assorted furniture.
He even had weekend guests: his four teen children, who stayed with Dad at his decided off-market digs when he had custody. No one was around during those days who would notice.
For months, Walters managed to sweep the arrangement under the rug. But on the last week of April, his secret was outed during an investigation into something else entirely.
Albany City School District officials were reviewing security footage while investigating custodians suspected of padding bogus overtime claims. Walters wasn’t accused of doing the same, but the cameras showed he was there — all the time.
Walters had previously been living with his younger sister and her boyfriend, but found his presence was too intrusive. He said he allowed his sister to believe he had found a legitimate apartment.
“The layout had a futon bed and a bunch of old, older chairs and some furniture that’s just been sitting in there for who knows how long. And I ended up cleaning it out and bringing in multiple beds, mini fridge,” Walters told local news channel CBS 6.
Walters said child support and expenses for his four children ate deeply into his $64,000 salary. With overtime, he said he earned about $80,000 in 2025.
“I knew what I was doing was wrong,” said Walters. “But I didn’t know what to do. When your back is against the wall, sometimes you end up making choices you probably shouldn’t have made.”
Walters said living with an uncle in a trailer park, where he is currently on the list for his own, and has had two job offers.
The local police looked into the matter and at first slapped Walters with trespassing charges that were eventually dropped, and his sister set up a GoFundMe to help him set up new housekeeping.
