ASK ELi TO INVESTIGATE: Who Clears Snow at the Schools?

Image: East Lansing DPW worker clears a sidewalk along Grand River Avenue last Sunday

The question: This week, we received this question from an Eli reader: “Who is responsible for keeping the sidewalks, curb, ramps, crosswalks, parking lots, and streets around schools clear and passable?” She added in her email that “various people—both parents who have called to complain and city or school district employees—say it's different: It's the school. No, it's the ELPS grounds people. No, it's the city.” She says she has “never gotten a consistent answer.”

Our reader’s question focused on recent experiences at Marble Elementary School, located at the intersection of two busy thoroughfares—Hagadorn Road and Burcham Drive: “For weeks, as a result of the freeze/thaw cycle we had been experiencing, the curb ramps leading to the crosswalks around Marble, on both Burcham and on Hagadorn, have been very icy (meaning, for almost two weeks, to cross from the parking lot to the school, one had to step or leap over a snowbank onto the icy curb ramp and try not to fall or run into any traffic on Burcham, since cars are not 100% willing to stop when there are pedestrians, even when the crossing guard is present). Finally, a parent brought his own bucket of salt to address these areas.”

The reader is concerned the situation can become dangerous: “The crossing guards this morning said that children were walking on Burcham because the sidewalks along Burcham were thigh-deep in snow for kids. I know of one instance when a crossing guard used her stop sign to shovel out a snow bank on the curb ramp after the road plows had covered that area up, making it impassable for people trying to cross the street to Marble at the crosswalk.”

The answer from the City: To start to investigate the answer to our reader’s question, I spoke with Scott House, City of East Lansing Director of Public Works (DPW), and Catherine De Shambo, DPW’s Environmental Services Administrator.

House stated that the City is responsible for plowing all elementary school parking lots, as well as the Eastminster Child Development Center lot on Burcham, which is also used by Marble parents.

The schools, according to House, “are responsible for their property and sidewalks.” House also noted that schools are responsible for maintaining crosswalks and the curb ramps at intersections.

So that’s parking lots cleared by the City, and walkways, crosswalks, and curb ramps cleared by the School District.

In practice, De Shambo added, the City of East Lansing and the East Lansing Public Schools “work really well together. We try to help each other out. Even if it’s the School District’s responsibility, we’ll help them out.”

She cited a specific incident in which a parent called because snow plows cleared school-adjacent roads after the school sidewalks were cleared, throwing snow back onto the previously safe walkways. It was late enough in the day that school staff was no longer in the building, so De Shambo instructed DPW staff to remove the snow.

The answer from the ELPS administration: To investigate our reader’s question further, I also contacted the office of Dr. Robyne Thompson, Superintendent of the East Lansing Public Schools (ELPS). She referred the question to Richard Pugh, ELPS Director of Finance.

Pugh outlined snow removal duties in a way generally consistent with the explanations of House and De Shambo, and clarified that “Eastminster parking lot and walkways” are within the City’s area of responsibility. “ELPS takes care of monitoring and clearing maintenance of all sidewalks, walkways, drives and parking lots” and he says that clearing may “occur multiple times per day and as problem areas are called in by principals, crossing guards, or neighbors.”

Pugh also said that “[t]here is considerable shared responsibilities regarding snow removal at ELPS schools as both ELPS and the City of EL consider clearing sidewalks, driveways, parking lots and [school ground] walkways a top priority at our schools for our community’s students.”

The bottom line: The answer to our reader’s ultimate question—who do you call if you see a problem?—according to both House and De Shambo is that if there are snow removal issues on school property, parents or other concerned citizens should first call the office at the specific school. If school personnel cannot be reached for some reason, a quick call to the City’s Public Works Department (517) 337-9459 is the next step.

House also emphasized the importance of property owners near schools and everywhere in the City to “get out early and clear their sidewalks.” He acknowledges that during a significant storm there will be frustration because “when we’re plowing, snow will be kicked up on sidewalks,” but adds that in a major storm like this week’s, that is an unavoidable issue.

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