The Observation Deck

It was wondered when the negligence would result in an injury. Today at dismissal my kindergarten-age daughter takes two steps out the front door at Emerson, slips on a big patch of ice, and falls right on her tailbone.

The poor girl is still in pain.

How many complaints does it take? How many more injuries does it take? Why does a defunct Catholic church do a better job at clearing its walks than a public school with hundreds of children? This wasn't the neighborhood. This was the front porch of the school. It's amazing how fast the salt and shovels were put into action--after she fell.

Mike Coleman wrote:It was wondered when the negligence would result in an injury. Today at dismissal my kindergarten-age daughter takes two steps out the front door at Emerson, slips on a big patch of ice, and falls right on her tailbone.

The poor girl is still in pain.

How many complaints does it take? How many more injuries does it take? Why does a defunct Catholic church do a better job at clearing its walks than a public school with hundreds of children? This wasn't the neighborhood. This was the front porch of the school. It's amazing how fast the salt and shovels were put into action--after she fell.

Hi Mike,

I felt terrible when I read your post. I too have a kindergarten age daughter and there seems to be no excuse for this happening at school which should be a safe zone from this kind of injury. I have heard of injuries, big and small at other schools this season. We had our "snow meeting" the other night, and figured out how to begin with some things, chiefly with ways that we can try to work with the city, but the meeting ended before we could focus on what began this whole discussion: the safety of our children going to school. That's for the next meeting but how many kids will fall on the ice before we can do something about it?

We've established that the schools can't clear the walks outside of their own property, that that is the job of the City, but the schools seem to be having quite a problem within their own property. It seems that our custodians become overwhelmed with snow and ice (and in some cases, snow and ice thrown up on school property by city plows), and can't get the access areas cleared in time before our kid are in school. I know that some moms went to the School Board meeting last night to bring this up, but I don't know what the outcome was. I hope they will get on here and post soon. If the District's budget is so tight that we can't get snow removed in an efficient way, it's time for us to help, I guess. I know that we could get an army of parents to volunteer to shovel within school grounds, rather than risk injury to one of our children.

Of course this also brings up the issue of whether the resources they have are being used efficiently. Our kids' safety should be number one on the list. We've been talking about this all winter, but the stories of kids falling keep coming.

Hey moms who went to the meeting, please post. Or, School Board members, especially Ed Favre, who was very helpful and knowledgeable at our Snow Meeting. Can you come on and lend some insight? We are willing to help and we appreciate very much how open you are to communicating with us.

Thank you.

Betsy Voinovich

Thanks for the support Betsy. Luckily, the little girl is doing fine and running around today with minor pains.

As for the ice removal, this one was a total joke. We're not talking any major ice storm; we're talking two inches of snow max, more than 36 hours before the fall. There was simply no excuse for any snow or ice to be present yesterday at dismissal. Five minutes of work tops by one staff member would have sufficed. One can only assume it was an oversight. I would hope it has been addressed internally at Emerson or within the school district, but given the complaints voiced previously this year, who knows?

I love Emerson, and love sending my kids there. The teachers are great, and Mrs. Seibel's apology for the situation was accepted. But still, the snow and ice situation there this year left a lot to be desired; and it must be addressed for next school year or you could see a more serious injury to a child or even a staff member. They're out there helping as well. We don't need a student, parent or teacher flying down the cement steps. (Hoping there is no more ice this year!)

I know its no consolation, but I felt terrible when I read your post. I was so sorry that your little girl fell on the ice. What a way to end a schoolday

I would have been in the office screaming.

I hope no one else has to be injured before they change their policies.