Burnaby school district will be tackling the next major snowfall with a combination of elbow grease, improved communication and technology.

The district carried out a review of its snow plan after last winter’s seemingly-neverending dump of snow led to numerous complaints about uncleared sidewalks and roads impeding access to schools.

Traditionally, the district handled snow removal with a combination of outside contractors and in-house staff, said Phil Shepherd, the district’s director of facilities. But that changed three winters ago when a larger-than-normal snowfall resulted in poor service and higher-than-budgeted costs from the outside contractor.

That’s when the district decided to rely on its existing workforce to get the job done.

Unfortunately, last winter’s snowfall, the largest in 40 years, exposed cracks in its system.

Shepherd said there was some confusion over what custodial staff at schools were responsible for and what was to be handled by district grounds staff and city staff.

The recent review clarified those roles. District staff have also met with counterparts at city hall to determine which streets around each school will be a priority for city plows. The school district has also agreed to pitch in with snow clearing from sidewalks in some areas beyond the schools to help out when necessary, Shepherd said.

Areas have been identified for snow to be piled up, as out of the way as possible to prevent the loss of too many parking spots and the like.

The district already had four plows and salters to install onto existing trucks. They’ll now be augmented by snowblowers for each high school, which will be moved to elementary schools as needed. Grounds crews will also have another four snowblowers for their use. And permanent salt bins and commercial quality salt spreaders will be installed at all schools.

As for technology, the district plans to use its closed-circuit-TV system for more than just security. The 35 of 56 schools which have surveillance cameras will see coloured poles installed on their rooftops so staff at the district office will be able to remotely see the depth of snow at those sites and prioritize the response of its plows, Shepherd said.

To address heavy snow loads on the roofs of older schools, this winter the district will conduct a trial at two sites which already have digital controls to remotely look after heat and lights. Sensor plates will be installed on their roofs to see whether that’s an effective way to monitor snow loads, he said, something that could be particularly useful when the planned new school opens up on Burnaby Mountain.

During heavy snowfalls, staff working the night shift will report throughout the night to the district superintendent. He’ll make a decision by 6:30 a.m. whether any schools will be closed, something that never actually happened last winter.

That decision will then be relayed to media outlets, posted on the district’s website and recorded on the district’s phone message.

“Certainly, with all that, now we know we’re not going to get any snow,” Shepherd quipped.