The stairs up to the “J” Building are daunting. Photo courtesy of junior Karl Karsh.

  At San Luis Obispo High School, there are about 1600 students on campus. These students have an array of needs, but for all of them, a common need is accessibility. 

  Expressions talked to two SLOHS students to gain insight on what they think about the accessibility on campus.

Expressions: Do you feel that SLOHS is physically accessible to everyone? Why or why not?

Sophomore Vance Waller: I personally do not think it is as physically accessible as it could be. People who have or need mobility aids do not have a lot of entry ways. Most places you must enter going up stairs, which can be difficult for someone in crutches or a wheelchair. Our school really only has a few ramps and most that only lead to more stairs with no ramps. And specifically the 100s building is almost impossible to get up if you have problems getting up stairs. The hill near the auto building is so steep that it is hard for people who don’t even have issues with their body to get up, and now one of the easiest ways to get there has now been blocked off because of construction. 

Junior Chiara Thomas: I do not think it’s physically accessible to everyone. They have literally blocked off the ramps going from languages level up to the sciences level. People who need to use ramps then have to either rough it up the stairs, which isn’t always safe, or have to use the steep backroads.

Expressions: Do you notice any problems with accessibility on campus?

Waller: Going back to the 100s building, you have to go up a set of stairs or go up a big hill just to get to a ramp which seems counterintuitive. Classrooms are also set up in non-accessible ways, as the rows are usually pushed two feet away from each-other making it so someone in a wheelchair could not get to their desk. Others in crutches have nowhere to put them when they are sitting down. 

Thomas: The backroads are not meant for students, really. There’s always cars and/or giant construction vehicles to dodge, and it’s like a 30° incline, which is steeper than ADA compliant ramps.

Expressions: Have you personally been affected by the accessibility at SLOHS?

Waller: Yes, most accessible areas to get to class have now been blocked off or just aren’t that accessible in general. Getting in and out of classrooms without needing assistance is a problem.

Thomas: Yes. I prefer to take ramps most of the time when I have my rolling backpack. I have bad joints (particularly my knees, that’s why I wear a brace often), so putting extra weight on them makes it more likely for the joints to twist weirdly and for me to fall. Rolling backpacks keep that weight off my knees for the most part, but carrying a rolling backpack up/down stairs really defeats that purpose. Often, going up/down stairs causes me pain when I’m carrying heavy things, and it’s just not that safe. The backroads are better-ish, but sometimes that still causes pain and I feel my knees wobble. I have to take the backroads or stairs every day to get to and from my history class and I have to dodge cars using the roads which is just not good. 

Expressions: How can SLOHS be made more accessible to everyone?

Waller: I think that there definitely needs to be more ramps or an easier way to get to the classroom, also so that the seats are easier to get to and not a two or three man job to get in and out of your desk area if you’re disabled. Plus, if construction did not block off the only accessible way to class, that would be nice. If there were multiple openings for people with mobility aids rather than one (that ultimately gets closed off) it would make the school slightly more accessible.

Thomas: The main thing is finishing the ramps. There’s probably other things but that’s all I can think of at the moment. I think construction is working on that right now, which is great. Hopefully they’ll be done soon. But they really should have worked on that over the summer, or last school year. There haven’t been ramps going from arts to sciences levels for over a year now, it sucks. Also, when I’ve peeked at construction, it seems like the ramp connects to the stairs halfway up? Hopefully that’s just work in progress, and the ramp goes all the way up, but like, a ramp connecting to stairs literally defeats the purpose of a ramp.

  Clearly, the accessibility on campus is severely lacking. Hopefully it will get better, sooner than later.