The maintenance crew was pulled outdoors during the school day due to rapid snowfall the morning of Feb. 24 after an already difficult cleanup of 19 inches from recent heavy snow storms. 

When snow falls but school needs to stay open, the maintenance crew, custodians, and engineers of the school work together to remove the snow to maintain the safest possible outdoor environment for students and staff. 

“Usually when something like this happens we head outside before school, during the day, and before the final bell to keep everything cleared for students,” engineer Bryan Berndt said. 

When snow starts to pile up outside, the team gets to work as soon as they can. Student safety is the main concern and priority when it comes to extreme weather. In order to keep students safe, but keep them in school, the custodial staff works hard to shovel and salt all sidewalks to prevent any possible injuries that could occur due to the snow.

The team uses a variety of different snow removal equipment, including plow trucks, a bobcat with different attachments, and manual shoveling.  According to Berndt, the most used tool is the broom attachment on the Bobcat. Staff will go out to remove snow before, after, and during school, sometimes multiple times depending on the severity of the snowfall. 

The effort put in by our engineers, custodians, and maintenance crew, makes it a lot easier to travel safely before and after school. The work they put in helps keep students as well as other staff safe. Without their hard work removing snow, it would be a lot more difficult and dangerous to leave school at the end of the day.