Winter Storm Juno brought a blanket of snow and a day off of school for the students of Saint Anselm on Tuesday, January 27.

Two feet of snow and slush was barely cleared in time for the school to reopen on Wednesday, a day that most schools in Northern New England were given off due to the inability to keep up with the continuing snowfall throughout Tuesday night.

Public schools in Manchester remained closed for Wednesday, as well as colleges in the area. Saint Anselm students were forced to trek through the wintery conditions on campus in order to make it to their Wednesday classes.

The safety of students and teachers alike is put at stake as administration continues to decide to open the school in unsafe weather conditions.

Low temperatures, unclear roads, and icy walkways become a hazard for the people of Saint Anselm due to administration refusing to cancel the classes. Is one day of class time really worth compromising the safety of the students and staff?

On the other hand, the staff of 8 full-time Physical Plant employees and 13 part-time student shovelers are forced to clean the entire 400 acre campus, which includes all doorsteps, walkways, parking lots, and roadways.

Even with the entire team on staff, the Physical Plant employees work into the late hours of the night only to wake up before dawn to finish clearing campus before students and teachers arrive to classes.

“On Wednesday morning I woke up at 4:30 AM, after working for seven hours the previous day, to shovel before classes started,” said Beth Gabert ’17, a student shoveler for Physical Plant.

“On the other hand, the full-time employees have pulled several all-nighters in order to clear campus before school had to open. Last week, they plowed for almost 36 hours straight with little to no breaks.”

Not only is Saint A’s compromising the safety of students and teachers by opening on a day after severe weather when conditions are still unsafe, the staff of Physical Plant is constantly overworked in order to keep up with the needs of the school.

Saint Anselm is known for the snowy campus, but not for the willingness to announce snow days.

This year, we have made history with two full snow days and a delay, with possible days off in the future as the weather continues to remain severe.

In order to keep students, teachers, and the Physical Staff safe and sane, the administration should consider breaking history further in the days to come.