School Board Meeeting: Update on Snow and ABLE

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Last night I attended the Lakewood Board of Education meeting held at Harrison Elementary School. During the Communication section of the meeting, 1 citizen addressed the Board of Education regarding the ABLE program and 2 addressed the issue of snow removal.
Here is an update on these issues that have been discussed here on The Deck:
1. ABLE Program: The Able program is slated to move over spring break into the modulars at Taft Elementary School (Taft School is closed). At this time, there wasn’t any discussion on where the permanent home of the ABLE program will be in the future, nor was there discussion on whether evening classes would continue at Emerson or at Grace Lutheran Church.


2. Snow Removal: Ed Favre, during the Communication section, mentioned that he had attended the “Snow Meeting” at the Beck Café last Friday night. He reported that a discussion took place on what the school district could do and not do about snow removal and clearing the sidewalks. He also reported that there was a student that had fallen at Emerson Elementary School.

*Note: at the “Snow Meeting” Mr. Favre said, ” the school district is not allowed to clear private property walks due to issues of liability. The custodian of each school is responsible for shoveling school sidewalks. Although Lakewood Schools are unable to shovel private property, “We do prioritize clearing our parking lots so that residents can park their cars in them during snow bans”, explained Favre. Apparently, snow bans go into effect on every street when snow exceeds two inches. There doesn’t have to be a “snow sign’ for there to be a ban on the street.

I addressed the Board of Education after Mr. Favre’s report of the “Snow Meeting”. I thanked Mr. Favre for attending the “Snow Meeting” and let the Board know that I thought it was a good start to doing something about improving the sidewalks around the schools during the winter. However, although the city and school district have different responsibilities, I did remind the Board that parents still had concerns about the safety of the walkways on school property—which is the District’s responsibility. I also reminded the Board that parents and the community do want to work together to help with this issue. They could count on us to be proactive and to do what we could to increase awareness about the issue.

Another citizen mentioned that she had a student at Emerson Elementary School, but that she also taught before care in that building. She mentioned that she gets work around 6:30am and that had been told that the district doesn’t salt. She is concerned and reported that children and adults have fallen. School Board members were unable to verify whether salt is being used at Emerson, but Mr. Patterson did confirm that he knew salt was being used at some of the schools.


Check out the newest issue of the Lakewood Observer. There is an article, which is part of a two-part series, reporting on the “Snow Meeting” last Friday night and that will address the ideas, progress that we’ve made with the Mayor’s office, and upcoming campaigns to increase awareness.