Heights Schools Still Weathering Snow Storm Aftermath

Just when readers thought all this blizzard talk was coming to an end, here comes more news about the aftermath of a snow storm that rocked 2011.

At a school board meeting Monday, District 170 Supt. Thomas Amadio commended his building and grounds crew for clearing out the snow surrounding the schools so that students and teachers could get in the front doors. He also commended his own district for buying two additional trucks last year.

"It was bad," Amadio said. "These guys did unbelievable work. Thank God we bought those extra trucks. Otherwise we would've been in trouble."

The district's building and grounds supervisor Ron Mascitti was also proud of his team's work.

"We got hit with that big snow blast," Mascitti said. "It took us two days but we got it cleaned up. The guys in the maintenance department did a great job."

The big clean up was the reason District 170 students were able to attend school Friday, but that job isn't finished yet, according to Mascitti.

"We've got to try to get the snow away from the buildings," he added. "It's going to start leaking and melting and going into the basements."

Mascitti said some of the schools are still difficult to get to, and require parents and bus drivers to take detours to reach their destination.

"Garfield School is still bad," Mascitti said. "If you go down 23rd it's almost impossible to get a big truck down the street. It's still very jammed-in there."

There was delay last week because the district building and grounds crew had to wait for the city's plows to clear out some of the side streets before they could even get to the schools.

"Over at Wilson and Roosevelt, those school were tough," Mascitti said. "Even though Roosevelt's off Lincoln Highway, we had to wait for the big trucks to clear some of that out. There was no way our trucks were going to make it through all that snow."

Students will have to make up the missed days in this summer.

"We did missed two snow days," Amadio explained. "So we'll have to extend the school year by a couple of extra days in June."

Gordon Dental Decision

At the same meeting the school board made another key decision, approving a contract for a through Gordon Dental of Olympia Fields.

Amadio said he is not sure when Gordon Dental will start providing their services to the schools.