I say yes to the parking lot for the Seniors at the high school. Yes the seniors have open campus, they leave the school for lunch because there is not enough room for them to eat at the high school. Yes, there is already a lottery for the very few spaces available. The students share a space for half the school year with another student. With the quickly growing enrollment more spaces are needed. The colony parking lot is used by the Juniors because they do not have the option of open campus... with all of these kids walking from Colony to the highschools the narrow roads are hazardous to the kids and the traffic.

Unfortunately you chose to own a home right near the high school, so obviously those among you will always be impacted the greatest. However your concerns don't outweigh the need for more parking. As Mr. Spock say the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

No Way. It must be nice to have $400,000 to put into an asphalt parking lot just so ashley, amy, tommy and timmy have the luxury of parking their car at the school. Are you kidding me?

Put the sidewalk in from Colony and make these kids walk the .2 miles to school. Furthermore, I have no idea why we allow kids to leave school during school hours. Sounds like the inmates are running the asylum.

Good luck putting sidewalks in, it would take years. The parking lot badly needs repaving and adding spaces makes total sense. Whether it should cost $400k is debatable, no one will know until the bidding begins.

One line item in the budget should not negate the benefits of a fiscally responsible school budget. Vote YES to get our schools, community and property values at the excellent level we have all worked decades to achieve.

The justifications for additional parking spaces do not measure up. It appears that what the students want has become a need. When I read the "needs of many outweigh the needs of a few" I chuckled--89 spots meet the need of many.... the population of the Township is what?????????

Also, it is not in good faith for items to be included in the budget without discussion and for neighbors to be told they would be notified and then, they not. School populations go up and down. History should teach us something. An elementary school (Mountainside-now Township offices) was built and closed after a short period of time. The argument of demographics and a growing population was used then and then there were lots to build homes.

Assign spots for faculty. Have a method of awarding spots to students, maybe community service. If the schools are so overcrowded that students can't have lunch, be creative and figure it out. The available parking and Colony is enough space for seniors, Why encourage juniors to drive when many are not old enough so can't drive and parents can be pressured into getting cars so students can drive to school in their junior year..

Open space is becoming more precious. Why lose it? Who is going to pay for the up keep from plowing to sealing and so forth?

I will vote NO on the budget if this is not and eliminated and will encourage others to vote NO. This is not a necessity and the decision to have more spaces in time may even be regretted.

How sad that the BOE tried to be so open by holding all those budget hearings and then slipped this in without discussion. Sometimes the district feels like a sinking ship. Don't the administrators see the environmental clubs that are encouraging "Back to Tap," no idling, energy conservation, and composting (see the hype about the district's new rocket composter)? How does paving over grass for a car park support the environment? Why so many kids "need" to drive is beyond me. Something tells me it's not to hurry to their after-school jobs. This is also a waste of money when one considers that there are roof leaks in buildings that need to be repaired. A neighbor visited her child's class at Lafayette and mentioned trash barrels catching water from ceiling leaks.

Clearly there are people who have pretty passionate opinions about the HS parking lot. Unfortunately, I was unable to make any of the numerous budget meetings that were offered so I looked on line at the budget package. The $400,000 for the parking lot construction and repaving is clearly listed, as it was on prior documents. There was nothing secretive about this measure. Having said that, if you disagree with the parking lot, voting down the school budget is NOT the right answer. Voicing your opinions to the school board, or I expect eventually to the Planning Board, is the way to handle this issue. The overall school budget is fiscally responsible and well thought out. The naysayers will use the parking lot to tell you to vote down the budget. This is absolutely ridiculous and potentially damaging to the entire school district. Don't fall for the "sky is falling" propanda. Vote YES for the school budget and argue the parking lot where it belongs.

If only the parking issue were just about seniors... it is about having enough parking for back-to-school night, when parents are forced to park up and down side streets illegally just to get to meet their children's teachers... for sporting events like the winter basketball tournament... for theater events and concerts... having spaces for visitors to the building so that they don't have to park in fire lanes... so that a staff member who has to run out during a lunch hour has a parking space left to return to upon coming back to school.
It has little to do with the entitlements of students, and everything to do with bettering the community. Vote YES on the budget... not NO to a parking lot.

Putting the parking lot aside, VOTE NO !! We should have zero tax increase, just like many of our neighboring towns. Totally fiscally irresponsible budget.

Again - there is parking several hundred yards away at colony. The kids can walk from there. Put the $400k to better use. How do freshman, sophmores and juniors get to school? the same way the seniors should and can. I like the comment someone suggested about tying it into community service. The more you give back, the more you receive - and in this case the "receive" is a parking spot.

VOTE NO to this budget. NO TAX INCREASE !! Our schools will be just fine. We need to cut cut cut.

I think there are a lot of reasons why the parking lot needs to be addressed. My children drive to school for a number of reasons. After-school jobs are one, after-school athletics are another. Very few sport teams have the luxury of practicing or playing on school properties. There is no way for them to get there, parents should be able to work and have their kids participate in school activities.

Another issue is parents, they use that parking lot for drop off and pick up, making the whole situation much worse than it could be. The only way to regulate it is to have a police officer there, but that hardly seems cost effective.

17 year olds have earned the right to drive. The state gives them that privilege. The backpacks that these kids have to carry, b/c the lockers are unusable for most students, are incredible. Add sports equipment on top of that and they are easily carrying 50-60 pounds. That is a lot for most students.

Can they walk from Colony, sure, and many of them do. Why begrudge visitors, staff and students the simple act of parking in a convenient location? There is plenty of unused space on the property. While I am never in favor of paving over paradise, sometimes we have to just do what is necessary.

Are the same people who don't want more parking at the high school the same ones who are always complaining that there isn't enough parking at the Train Station?

It disgusts me that everybody suddenly becomes so flustered when a number is thrown around about putting in a new parking lot. Think about the changes that have gone on under the budget in the last couple of years. Theres a wifi- equipped cafeteria in the high school. They have a deli in the cafeteria. New technology is put into that school every week and no one says BOO HOO. Yet when it comes to a project that can not only make our students lives a little bit easier in the mornings, but also make it a bit safer to drive, everybody suddenly has an opinion. I agree with all of you that driving is a priveledge, but is taking the train to work every morning not a luxury? All of us seem to forget that just because we had to suffer as kids and walk however far to school, doesnt mean high school kids have to. If it means taking a little money out of my pocket every month to make students lives easier, than im ok with that. I vote yes. To anyone that thinks otherwise, shame on you. Why do 17 year olds have any less right to drive than us? thats not fair. Put all the money in your pocket you want, but your doing no help for the community. The selfishness of some people really irks me.

Speaking as a former Chatham High School student from the recent years I can't imagine why anyone would vote no to the budget increase. Chatham is known for a high level of academic achievement and success that many schools in the area are lacking. Even if a portion of the budget is going to a larger parking lot, why is providing that to successful students such a bad thing? Also, "open campus" (the term used for the senior's open lunch/study hall periods) is not given to all students. The school can take away the student's rights to open campus as a result of poor academics or as a disiplinary action. VOTE YES because the increase in budget will help the Chatham Schools (in more ways than just a parking lot).

I'm confused as to why we need to spend more to have more. Seems like too many of us have taken a page out of the federal governments play book. What happened to efficiency and making tough choices. I am hard pressed to understand how $400k can't be better spent on education purposes than on asphalt. The kids can walk to school from their parking lot at colony. If you look each morning you'll see thousands of kids, from ages 8-18 walking to school. Can't seniors walk the quarter mile from colony? Final thought - put the lot in and use private funds - kids can pay to park - or better yet, their parents can pay to have their children park.

Let's find a way to do more for less. The easy answer is "let's write a check". I'm not sure it takes money to make money. The federal government takes in trillions, yet we are trillions in debt. Lets be wise in how we spend what we have. $400k for a parking lot is outlandish when we consider less than a 1/4 mile there are hundreds of spots at colony. If we want to spend the $400k lets put it into something where we will get a return - now thats money that will make money. I haven't seen asphalt that parks cars, make money. How about building additional class rooms? or perhaps adding 8 more teachers?

The only thing you do "with less" is LESS. "Doing more with less" is another cliche that should be banned, along with "thinking out of the box," and "transparency."

Trading the expansion of a parking lot, which is a one-time expense, for "eight (8) more teachers," which would require something in the neighborhood of $600 - 700K ANNUALLY, makes ZERO sense from a budgeting perspective.

As for adding classrooms, $400K might get you one, although it's hard not to add them in pairs. Also not sure how adding a classroom provides "a return??"

Lots of people talking about things they have no experience with. The lockers at the high school are so small that books don't fit. Baseball or lacrosse equipment certainly wouldn't have a shot in the dark at fitting in there. Once you have been a student or teacher at the school, then you would be in more of a position to talk about what goes on there.

Driving is a privilege, but one these students and teachers earned. Why are you all so offended about granting them a convenient and safe place to park?

Steve, I haven't contradicted myself at all, you just aren't aware of what goes on at the high school. Thanks for your input though.

To MadIn - you can do "more with less". It is about efficiency. A cliche? yes, however marking smart decisions, streamlining and getting rid of fat, you can accomplish more. Anothe throught - when it takes up to $800k to hire 8 teachers, something has gone terribly wrong. You should be able to hire 8 recent graduates at $25k per. Enough said. News flash - projected enrollment over the next several years is to increase dramatically. The $400k for 50 parkings spots won't cover 30% of projected enrollment of senior class. Then what? We take the baseball field in the back to add more parking? Let's get real folks. There is parking at colony. A short walk. Enough spots for all seniors.

Seiously - let's take the silver spoon out of our kid's mouths. They can walk less than a quarter of a mile.

MadInNJ - seems like I have struck a chord with you. If you want to spend $400k for asphalt, you fit right in with our current US administration - let's continue to spend on meaningless projects which provide zero return. On a personal note, since you have gone there, I actually went to Scarsdale HS in Westechester, undergrad at Princeton, so I think I did quite well. And by the way, we had to walk more than a 1/4 mile to school.

To heretolong - benefits are in the 30% range of total comp for teachers. If 8 teachers at $25k, salaries total $200k. This leaves another $200k for benefits. If benefits represent 50% of total comp, we have a serious issue and not just budgeting $400k for asphalt. Let's even make the case that we hire 4 teachers at $50k, we still have ample money to pay for their salary and benefits.

I am a graduate of Chatham Township High School (quite a long time ago) and can speak factually: the parking lot is exactly the same in 2011 as it was in 1988. The student population is NOT: it was just over 500 students in 1988 and currently has over 1100. You figure out why we need some more parking.

FanofChatham - the student population will grow by 30% over the next several years. There is a larger issue than spending $400k to add 50 parking spaces. Let's look at the real issue and that is over crowding at the High School - and the infrstraucture (much of which is old / outdated) can not support the continued student population increases. Why is no one talking about adding on to or constructing a modern high school that can accomodate continued growth over the next 20 years? The issue shouldn't be about adding 50 parking spaces.