Contributed photo
A partially cleared lot at Fair Haven School Monday.
A heavier than expected snowfall — and a late-starting snow removal contractor — left more than 20 city public schools to start their days Monday morning with snow partially plowed or not plowed at all.
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) spokesperson Justin Harmon provided that update Monday afternoon in response to concerns the Independent had heard from teachers and other school staff about unplowed parking lots at schools across the district, even though classes started late because of a district-wide two-hour delay.
“We are disappointed with how this morning’s snow removal went,” Harmon wrote.
He said the district was expecting the city to get only a single inch of snow Sunday night; instead, New Haven got several inches, and one of the district’s three contractors got a late start.
“Even so, there were 16 schools whose snow had not been removed by the time school was scheduled to start, plus five more where the job was incomplete,” Harmon wrote. “The Facilities team is conducting an after-action review with the contractors in order to learn what happened and how it can go better in the future. The safety of our students and staff has to be our highest priority, and we are committed to doing better than we did today.”
New Haven Federation of Teachers president (NHFT) Leslie Blatteau told the Independent on Monday afternoon that she received concerns about the lack of snow removal from school staff at Fair Haven School, Barnard, New Haven Academy, Bassett, Edgewood, Mauro Sheridan, Clinton Ave, Troup, Brennan rogers, and Bishop Woods.
She reported that several schools had the same issue, with parking lots not plowed or only partially cleared. She said some school staff like custodians and educators had to clear their own paths to get into the buildings, and that plows didn’t arrive at several schools until 10 or 11 a.m.
Blatteau added that Monday’s snow-plow results defeated the purpose of having the delay because “the delay is not meant for the snow crews to take a delay in clearing the snow.”
She reported that at some schools staff had to walk students across the street to the school building as buses struggled to drop them off on snow covered sidewalks.
The top concern Blatteau said she and school staff have with the lack of snow removal is safety for school communities as well as the impact such issues have on teacher retention. “Sometimes it just takes one more thing for people to say, ‘What am I doing here?’ and that’s the last thing we want,” she said.
She concluded that the snow stopped around 12 a.m. Monday, and she was told the district’s three snow contractors were not dispatched to plow until around 4 or 5 a.m., which didn’t leave enough time for them to clear the district’s more than 40 buildings, even with the two-hour delay. With the failure of outside contractors in such cases like Monday’s, Blatteau suggested the district do a cost analysis of how the district can spend less money on snow removal contracts and instead spend locally on dedicated facilities staff.
“It’s hard to fathom at this point,” she said. “There was a serious breakdown and the contractors missed the mark. This shows both that New Haven can come together and problem solve to keep our kids safe because we have resilient and committed people who work in New Haven and that our outside contractors failed us.”
Also reached for comment Monday, Frankie Redente, a Fair Haven alder who also works at Fair Haven School, said when he arrived to the school Monday around 9:30 a.m., the sidewalks were not cleared.
“It’s disheartening and a slap in all our faces. We work hard and these families take the time to walk their kids to school. They deserve better,” he said, especially as the alders’ Education Committee, which he is a member of, has raised concerns to the school district about its facilities issues.
He said he also heard from several parents who were upset about having to walk their child to the city’s largest middle school without a clear walking path.
Redente, who has worked for the district for the past 30 years, said when the custodial union supported snow removal, the clearing of snow was prompt. “Ever since they privatized, I’ve seen a decline in service. We need to go back to our own in-house managed staff.”
He said while he understands the cost of an investment in district machines and staff, he believe it’d be best to move from private contractors because unsafe school buildings open the district up to lawsuits.
He said he supports facilities and operations consultant Michael Carter’s goal of moving in the direction of fixing the district’s currently out-of-service plows and other machinery, “but they may have to speed up that process.”
“This is not ok by me. I grew up in New Haven all my life. I own a home and look at that tax bill and this is not right by me,” he concluded. “What about the staff like paras, cafeteria workers who showed up to work for these kids.”
Monday’s issues come at a time when school staff and the custodians union (Local 287) have urged the district to get rid of its private facilities contractors and instead save money long term by supporting Local 287’s request to do snow removal rather than paying contractors.
Reached for comment Monday afternoon, Local 287 President Tom DeLucia said he received several calls from custodians who reported having to shovel sidewalks and school entrances in an attempt to make up for the undone work by the district’s contractors.
He said he too was told contractors were not called out to begin plowing until 5 a.m. despite the snow stopping five hours earlier. “This was the perfect light snow to clear up right after it stops to keep it from freezing and creating ice everywhere,” DeLucia said.
He also was told by custodians that most schools’ sidewalks and parking lots were not plowed around 10 and 11 a.m., after students and staff had already arrived to buildings.
“Starting that late makes it so a two-hour delay means nothing. That’s not enough to do anything for 40-plus schools,” he concluded. “We [Local 287] don’t manage, so the decision making was very poor again. The buildings are supposed to be ready and able for the kids and the staff to come in safely. We gotta start making better decisions.”