Snowy KHS Sidewalks Prompt RTM Member, News 12 to Investigate; DPW Says Snow will be Removed at 7:00 AM Today
From News 12 Connecticut, February 4th, 2021Some parents in Westport are frustrated that the sidewalk in front of Kings Highway Elementary School has yet to be shoveled.
The owner of a shopping center just a few hundred feet from the school says anything beyond a certain point is not his responsibility.
The uncleared sidewalk has forced students who walk to school to trek through the piles of snow left behind from the nor'easter.
The Westport Public Schools director of facilities says the stretch of sidewalk is the Department of Public Works' responsibility.
Representative Town Meeting Member Christine Meiers Schatz says Kings Highway Elementary is in her district and she has twin kindergartners who go there. She says the town's elementary school students all recently returned to full-time in-person learning and now some Kings Highway parents and students are dealing with the issue of uncleared snow.
She adds this happened with the last big snowstorm in town, too.
DPW crews tell News 12 they start with the main roads, and then move on to the side roads before finally tackling the sidewalks.
They say they prioritize school sidewalks first and that they started those yesterday and were only able to get through two schools because of the significant amount of snow.
They say due to parent requests, they're re-prioritizing and will start on the sidewalk at Kings Highway Elementary at 7 tomorrow morning.