Parking policy may face changes again

Every day, about 50 of the nearly 1,200 Peters Township High School students walk into traffic.

They're not adrenaline junkies or thrill seekers. They're students who drive to the high school and park at the fire station, about a quarter mile away and across East McMurray Road, a busy street with no sidewalks.

Students have not been allowed to park at the high school for two years while the building was being renovated. Now, school board members are gathering information that could result in a change in the parking policy.

Elaine Webb, chairwoman of the school board's policy committee, said there is a variety of options.

'It runs the gamut from no parking to open parking and everything in between,' she said.

The policy committee will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the educational support facility along East McMurray Road. Webb said committee members will take suggestions about the current parking situation and any changes they might make in the parking policy.

Webb said the school district has wanted to address the parking policy since the policy was changed, when reconstruction of the high school began. However, board members' schedules have not permitted the discussion to occur until now.

Katie Winter, a senior at the high school, said parking at the fire station is frustrating, especially on cold days, but is thankful that there is a place to park. She works, and hurries to her job after school. Taking the bus would take up more time.

Juniors Frank Howard and Greg Latshaw suggested that the school board's reasons for implementing the no-parking rule are no longer valid.

'It's not like an issue of space,' Howard said.

The current policy came about before the 1999-2000 school year. The district made the change when faced with construction equipment and trailers in the parking lot, as the high school underwent a renovation and addition.

Today, though, most of the reconstruction work is finished, and the lots that were dotted with trailers and swirling with dust now sit empty.

Webb said if the policy is changed, it could be at least two months before the new policy is implemented.

If a new policy is written, she said, it would be subject to review by the district's solicitor, and then it would have a first reading at a board meeting and could be adopted after a second meeting.

Previously, students could drive to school if they had a need, such as a job or an extracurricular activity. However, Webb noted that the students had to get a permit - which was free - from the administration, and only the student and his or her siblings would be allowed in the car.

Juniors Nicole Clackson and Angelique Badamo are editors of the school yearbook. As editors, they stay after school three days a week. They don't like parking at the fire station.

'We hate it,' Clackson said.

'But we have to,' Badamo said.

Students who drive have had two options for parking since the no-parking rule was put in place, district spokeswoman Pat Kennedy said. Kennedy noted that although there are options for student parking, the district recommends that students ride a bus to school.

Students can try to find a parking space along the street, but even Kennedy admits street parking is limited.

Students also can park at the fire department - for a price. Firefighters began selling parking passes in the 1999-2000 school year for $40 a month so students could park at the station's terraced parking lot.

'We didn't set that up,' Kennedy said. 'We didn't recommend it. It's just something the fire department set up.'

Kennedy also noted that because the district provides a transportation plan - busing - and because the students park off school grounds, the district would not be liable for accidents that might occur, unless they occurred on school grounds.

This year, the parking pass price has decreased by $10, said Bill Benner, chairman of the board of the fire department.

Benner said the parking passes are valid for the entire year, but are paid for each month. He called the price of $30 a month fair.

'Where are you going to park for a buck a day?' he asked.

Benner said between 45 and 50 students park at the fire hall with a permit. He may see a few more cars without permits, but not for long. He said that this week he will begin towing cars that don't have a permit.

The money paid for parking spaces is used to cover expenses such as plowing and salting, and Benner noted that two years ago, the parking lot was resurfaced at a cost of about $8,000.

He said the rest of the revenue collected is used to buy equipment for the department's new ladder truck.

Students who park at the fire station also must contend with East McMurray Road. The main road through Peters has no sidewalks, and students have to cross it twice a day.

'We almost get hit by the bus every day,' Clackson said.

Kennedy noted that the district's official position is that students of driving age should take the bus to school like other students. She said the district did not arrange, and does not endorse the parking plan offered by the fire company.

Vince Guerrieri can be reached at vguerrieri@tribweb.com or (412) 306-4533.