Over the last few months Long Beach has been pummeled with storms from the Pacific Coast. Southern California has a reputation for poor infrastructure in regards to heavy rain but how does Wilson High school deal with these adverse weather conditions?
Wilson High School has dealt with rain for years but has the school been doing enough to keep people dry? The torrential downpour created some problems for both staff and students here on campus. Mrs. Sanchez, one of the attendance clerks, commented that “Everyone does their best to make sure you guys are safe and dry. There are leaks, but we’re an older school, so there are going to be leaks.”
Wilson High School has been doing its part in keeping up on maintenance to keep students safe and dry. However, the next question to consider is if Wilson should have days off to ensure students stay safe in the conditions. Mrs. Sanchez believes Wilson should have rain days. “Yes, I believe as the weather gets worse and we have more days like this we should have plans in place,” she said.
School nurse, Kristen Miranda, shared her opinion on the rain. She said she doesn’t see her students who have chronic health conditions, some of our students who use wheelchairs don’t come to school and there are a lot of slips and falls due to the floor. The slips and falls is another interesting point because some students might not feel safe walking to school or taking the bus in the storm. The floors inside of most of the halls in the main school buildings are extremely slippery when wet and lead to many unsuspecting students falling or hurting themselves. Changing the material of the floors in the halls in the future could prevent any injuries.
Yamil Padron, a senior in the arts pathway, said he doesn’t feel safe coming to school and heading home afterwards because rainy days can cause accidents. “Where I live there is a lot of flooding, so it makes it difficult to travel.” He also says how he’s been late to school and struggled to get home after. Many students can relate to the inconvenience of traveling during heavy rain and also know the risks involved when commuting to school in the rain. Yamil said yes, we should have rainy days off because it is difficult to get out of the house and to school. He said they should cancel it because it can be quite unsafe to get to class where half of the class is missing anyways.
Whether or not having days off for rain is possible, having plans for such a downpour definitely is in the school’s best interest. Make sure to dress dry the next time it rains and to have plans in place for getting to and from school.
