Getting to school this week has sometimes meant teetering on a mound of snow to get onto a public bus, skidding along sidewalks and walking in the street hoping a car doesn’t hit you.
With inches of ice on top of snow and freezing temperatures, what is now left is snowcrete — an impenetrable coating of white that doesn’t easily yield to a snow shovel.
While school districts have cleared their parking lots and sidewalks, it’s getting across town on public transportation and to the school property that seems to be tripping up Baltimore City students.
Banner reporters stopped at half a dozen city schools on Tuesday and the scene was the same. School properties were safe to traverse, but the city streets around them weren’t.
City middle and high school students don’t have yellow buses, so they have an additional hurdle in getting to school during the snow’s aftermath.
Desiraye Betters, 17, almost slipped on the blanket of snow and ice between the Western High School building and her bus stop.
She tries not to “fall and embarrass” herself. “I don’t want to slip or hurt myself or get snow on me because that stuff hurts,” she said.
The city bus rider pointed out that most of the bus stops she uses are surrounded by ice. She has to “walk in the street just to get to them,” and risk getting hit by a car.
“I fear for my life,” she said.
Baltimore City school officials are aware of the problems, but say they prioritize opening schools because virtual instruction during the pandemic proved to be far less effective for students.
In the past, the district has been slower to close schools than most surrounding districts because schools also provide meals.
“We know these decisions directly affect families and staff, and we do not take them lightly,” the school district said in a statement.
Sidewalks around Western were visible on Tuesday afternoon, though some pathways were blocked by a hill of snow. As students were leaving for the day, they struggled to move around one another since the shoveled sidewalk was only wide enough for one person.
As the 94 bus was rolling up, students stepped up on the platform of ice that sat between the sidewalk and street. A couple of them told The Banner that they were unhappy with the conditions and questioned why the school system didn’t switch to online learning.
The bus stop up the hill from Hampden’s Academy for College and Career Exploration was crowded with students Tuesday after school let out. The bus was running late. But when it finally arrived at the intersection of 36th Street and Falls Road, the teens were forced to climb over a slippery mound of ice and snow to get on.
Breaden Johnson, 16, said getting to school since the storm struck has been difficult.
“It’s tough to get over this terrain,” said Johnson, pointing to the ice piled 2-feet high along the 36th Street curb.
The sophomore was sipping a coffee from the 7-11 across the street. He said that on his way to school Tuesday morning he observed another passenger wincing in pain. The man remarked that he had slipped on the ice en route to the bus and believed he had broken his collarbone.
Zaina Shah, a 10th grader at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, said it isn’t just the sidewalks that have been problematic since the school reopened. The bus line she rides home was canceled five times between 3 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday. She kept waiting because the transit app would show a bus coming and then indicate it was canceled a few minutes before it was due to arrive at her stop. Finally, a friend gave her a lift.
A picture of her bus stop showed blocks of dirty snow piled against the sidewalk.
The city school district said it tries to work with city agencies so that they can prioritize clearing routes around schools. In addition, they alert MTA when school will be closed or delayed.
About the Education Hub
This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.
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