Woman struggles to keep up with overgrown, littered sidewalks near Youngstown school
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – One woman is speaking out and up again for students who attend East High School in Youngstown. She’s tired of the trash and unkempt sidewalks.
Cheryl Kelly has been trying to keep it clean but she needs help.
“This is so ridiculous,” she said. “We must do better.”
It’s springtime and Kelly is trying to keep sidewalks clear for students making their way to school — a problem she’s been trying to tackle for years.
Without buses for high school students this school year, it raises the possibility that more than ever will be walking to class.
“Frustration is still kicking in very high. The littering is such a huge problem. The kids can’t even walk on the sidewalk. What’s the point of having them?” Kelly said.
She says the grass along the sidewalks in front of East High has recently been cut but the trash is still there.
Kelly says she was hoping to meet with City Councilperson Jimmy Hughes on Saturday. That meeting didn’t happen.
First News reached out to Hughes, who said he’ll be scheduling weekly clean-ups on the east side but they’ll need volunteers.
“The other councilpeople, they are building homes, they’re building parks. We can’t even get a safe passage for the kids to get to school,” Kelly said.
She is a Golden Bear alumnus and cares about how the conditions may affect some students’ moods.
“If they have to walk to school through this, what they gonna be happy about when they get there?”
Kelly spent time Saturday clearing the landscaping and sidewalk for students, including around a bus stop.
Another concern for students who walk to school is having no sidewalks at all.
“The kids have to go up East High toward Oak Street and there’s no sidewalk. It’s a hill, kids are in the street, cars coming both ways. Somebody’s gonna get hurt,” Kelly said. “But they can’t even walk on this sidewalk. They still have to walk on the road. Trash everywhere.”
Hughes says he’s hoping to schedule the first clean-up next Saturday.
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