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Lt. James Perez told the Daily Voice that there were four schools are of interest as of Wednesday morning. The director of the town’s crossing guard program also brought to the department's attention the problem of deep snow preventing access from crosswalks to sidewalks, Perez said.
“A danger is always set for children when they can’t safely cross the street,” Perez said. “The schools or Board of Education have a responsibility to clear these sidewalks for the children’s safety.”
However, according to Thomas Cullen, director of operations for Fairfield schools, the Board of Education has done just that.
“Our custodians work to clear all the sidewalks on school property,” Cullen said, adding that to his knowledge all schools have been properly cleared of snow since Monday’s storm.
According to Cullen, custodians have “multiple types of equipment” to clear snow, including plows, blowers and shovels. Although it is their job to clear only school property, Cullen said there is no policy in place preventing them from clearing sidewalks beyond the school property line.
Any uncleared sidewalks or roadsides belong to neighbors whose properties either directly abut Fairfield schools, or is property owned by the town, at which case it becomes the responsibility of the Department of Public Works.
Perez said town ordinances require residents to clear their sidewalks of snow within 24 hours of a storm, or they face a $99 fine.
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