If you are a student who commutes to school, you have probably noticed the stairs and fence that have been put up in the student parking lot earlier this school year. You may also be wondering why this change was deemed necessary and implemented this year.  

“We had to do it to cover for safety issues,” Mr. Campos, head of maintenance and grounds at the school, said,  “The insurance company made us do something there because no one was going around and taking the stairs [on the sides of the lot].”

Mr. Campos relayed that there have been at least two people who slipped and fell cutting across the hill and as a result, the school was written up by the insurance company.

The decision to install the stairs was made in the summer of 2017 by the school committee, but the school stalled until the insurance company stepped in.  For the project, Sherry Construction Corporation was hired to build the stairs while Foxx Fence was hired for the fence.

“The fence was $4,000 and the stairs and the railings I believe was close to $12,000,” stated Mr. Campos.  He explained that the stairs were so expensive because they needed to comply with building code.

He also explained why it was decided to include a fence in the project. “The fence was put there in case because if we were to just put the stairs people still would have went up and down the hill,” Campos explained.

Many students have complained that the landing to the stairs is taking up two spots when it could have only taken up one.  Mr. Campos apologized, “It was just because I put it right across from the gymnasium entrance, not realizing I was taking two spots instead of one.  I could have probably moved it over two feet, but I noticed that after it was already done.”

All and all, the staircase has helped to ensure the safety of the students.  “I see a lot of people using it,” Mr. Campos noted,  “It has helped because no one is going down the hill.”