New plans follow snow clearing

After insufficient snow removal equipment caused MCPS to close for three days after a Feb. 13 winter storm, the Department of Facilities Management is planning to buy more equipment and hire more workers, said Director of Facilities Management Richard Hawes.

Hawes is still developing the plan and has not yet determined how to fund the initiative.

The department had to pay to borrow snow removal equipment from Montgomery County contractors to clear the frozen ice and snow from school properties after the storm, Hawes said. With the help of the contractors' equipment, school parking lots were completely cleared by Saturday, Feb. 17. The removal would have taken "a day or two" longer without the extra equipment, Hawes said.

Hawes has not yet received a bill for the use of the equipment and does not know how much the school system will be charged.

According to Kate Harrison, assistant director of the MCPS Public Information Office, a team from the Department of Facilities Management and Superintendent Jerry Weast decided to close schools for the three days after the ice storm based on the conditions of school properties, public roads and sidewalks. Harrison said that clearing community sidewalks is an ongoing problem because homeowners, not the county or school system, are responsible for clearing them.