Injured Students Criticize Icy Paths

With seven consecutive in- cidents of snowfall this month, the conditions of campus paths have raised concerns about the safety of the Academy commu- nity, as many students and faculty have expressed that the paths are dangerous and some custodians complained of overwork.Observed by the Academy’s Facilities Management Depart- ment, this year’s snowfall in Exeter exceeded the seasonal average, and multiple major snowstorms were concentrated in the month of February.“Typically Exeter gets aboutsixty inches of snow a year. Thatstarts from October and goesthrough April,” Senior Manager for Grounds and Athletics Ronald Johnson said. “This past December we had two feet of snow and five storms. January we only had 18.3 inches, but so far in February we have had 38 inches. It’s been a tough winter.”paths, and several students were injured due to ice-related falls. This provoked some criticism ofFacilitiesManagementbystu- dents and faculty, leaving some wondering about budget cuts.Members of the Facilities Management Department said there were no recent budget cuts, and emphasized that the prime reason behind the dangerous path conditions is due to this year’s unusually severe winter weather.In addition, Johnson said that the Academy does not have a specific budget for snow clear- ing. He explained that the task is funded in various sections of the Facilities Management Department including Grounds, Automotive, Custodial and someMechanical and Building Systems shops.“The largest portion is spent on labor, especially overtimefor snow removal,” he said. “Other costs are incurred by Grounds and Custodial for materials including salt, sand, ice melt andsnow shovels.”Although the majority of the funding goes forextra payment for employees working overtime, some custodians said that the Administration is “being too cheap,” and that custodians are forced to over-work.“We have to come in on weekends, we have to work evenings. We come in at five in the morning. I know during snow storms it’s important to clear all the paths, but I think the Administration is be- ing a little unreasonable asking a limited number of custodians to do a job for many,” a custodian, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “It’s just starting to really wear on us and we’re starting to get tired.”Upper Kimberly Dawes, who was injured after slipping on a patch of ice outside the music building earlier this winter, said she felt that the Academy should further fund or create a budget specifically for path clearing in order to prevent accidents like hers from repeating.“Exeter should put more money into path clearing because I feel that they are supposed to be ensuring kids safety and prevent kids from constantly falling and being on crutches, especially considering I know so many people who are on crutches now,” Dawes said. “With more funding they need to make sure the paths are even more clear because being on crutches can be hard to deal with.”Prep Stella Woo, who broke her ankle when she slipped on the icy path towards the gym this winter, said that eliminating inconspicuous ice patches would further ensure the safety of the members of the community.“Exeter could improve the job clearing paths by clearing the ice away. I definitely think that Exeter should spend more money on clearing the path to reduce the number of injuries occurring during winter term,” Woo said.Johnson, however, said that the injuries this year were primarily due to the worsened weather conditions, and asked for students to understand the unusual circumstances of this year.“It’s been a real long and tough year and being such a tight campus it is hard to get the snow out of the way to be able to make room for the next storm. That is always a challenge,” Johnson said. “But snow is always a priority. We take your safety very seriously, and we don’t want more students to fall or slip on the stairs out there.”Despite more members of the community notic- ing the perils of paths, custodians and members of the Grounds crew explained that during snowstorms, all workers of the Facilities Management Department clear the paths extensively, often working overtime.There have been six snow events this season when the Academy administration declared periods for “essential personnel.” All Grounds, Automotive and Custodial staffs are “essential personnel,” and they need to report or remain on campus to performor support snow removal operations.Custodian Kenny Torres said that during snow-fall, all custodians are required to shovel the pathways of dormitories as well as paths widely traversed by students.“When it starts snowing we start working at 6 in the morning until five or six o’clock in the evening, and it all depends how the day goes by weather wise,” Torres said.Johnson also commented on the time and work the Grounds crew put into clearing paths to ensure the safety of students and faculty. Custodians sometimes shovel for an entire shift, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the day shift or 5:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. for the night shift, depending on the intensity of the storm and the time of its arrival, according to Johnson.“Snow removal is always the top priority for the custodial team who clear snow from entrances of dormitories, academic and administrative buildings,” Johnson said. “They do as much shoveling as needed to keep the walks and entrances clear of snow.”Some custodians and employees work past their shifts not only because they are needed but also for extra payment.“I am a part-time employee. I only normally work ten hours of week, but when it snows I get called in,” another custodian who wished to remain anonymous said. “So for me it’s a bonus because I get extra hours.”In addition, Johnson noted that with limited numbers of workforce and heavy snowstorms, it is difficult for all paths to be cleared perfectly. He also noted that Exeter students could follow the policies of other schools and help the custodians by shoveling dormitory steps and walks.“At Andover they have a student-shoveling program initiated with the dean of students and then the dorm heads. There is a rotating schedule, certain students for each dorm get assigned jobs and it’s worked throughout all the dorms,” Johnson said. “They would typically be out there early in the morn- ing before classes getting the steps and fire-hydrants done around the dorm. It creates a good sense of community service.”Johnson continued and outlined the common mistakes that lead to injuries and explained that indiscrete actions such as staring at a phone screen while walking are what make the paths dangerous.“Safety concerns include pedestrians not tak- ing precautions to wear appropriate winter footwear while walking on campus or utilizing mobile devices such as cellphones and IPods as they travel along walkways,” he said. “These careless actions have resulted in slip and fall incidents and distractive behavior is a problem when pedestrians do not yield to equipment performing snow removal operations or when they are applying materials to control snow and ice conditions.”