Schools

School Board Schedules Public Hearing on High School Parking Lot Expansion

The hearing is scheduled for May 23.

After receiving numerous comments and feedback regarding a proposed possible expansion to the Chatham High School parking lot, the Board of Education has scheduled a public hearing on the issue for May 23 at 6:30 p.m. prior to the board meeting that evening.

The proposed 2011-2012 school budget includes a line item of $400,000 to expand the high school parking lot eastward along the north side of the cafeteria. The funds are not absolutely dedicated to the project, but rather are subject to the bids that the school board receives for an additional four classrooms to be added on to the high school.

If the construction of the classrooms exceeds the $1,618,255 allotted to it in the budget, the additional costs will be taken out of the $400,000 allotted to the parking lot.

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According to Superintendent Jim O'Neill, the current parking lot contains 253 parking spaces. During the 2011-2012 academic year, 133 of those spaces will be for staff parking, four are dedicated handicapped parking and 20 are dedicated visitor parking, leaving 96 spots for a predicted 303 members of the senior class.

Bob Jennings, who lives at 269 Lafayette Ave., said he is concerned about runoff from the high school. He said water runoff already comes onto his property from the north side of the high school, and if a paved parking lot is put in he is likely to receive more. "Right now our house is fine ... and I'd like to keep it that way," Jennings said.

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"That's part of the reason why some of the original estimates are so high, is because the architect has put in a significant number of contingencies dealing with [such concerns]," Barna said. Any plan to construct a parking lot in that area would include a civil engineering component to prevent adjacent residents from being adversely affected, which Barna is "why it's currently budgeted for a number that seems a lot of money for a potentially 50-spot lot."

Resident Barb Montague also asked for clarifications about the parking lot issue. "I've been hearing all sorts of rumors about the parking. I don't know what's true, I don't know what's false," she said. She asked if seniors at the high school were "entitled" to parking, which the board denied.

"They are entitled to apply for a spot," Barna said, but he said that students have needed to share a spot "for many, many years." Currently two students share one space per semester, and the new parking lot plan "does not support anything beyond a 2:1 ratio of potential seniors to parking spots." Students also need to meet certain criteria and maintain certain grades to keep their spaces.

"There used to be two students per spot, now there are about four," said Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa. "It's two students per spot per semester, because we're so short."

Board member Alan Routh pointed out that with the growing student enrollment, the currrent parking lot will soon be insufficient to maintain even a 2:1 ratio. "The current graduating class is 245, and the second grade is 360. Typically a grade grows by one percent a year, so by the time the second graders are 12th graders, we're going to have 160 more seniors. Obviously they're not going to fit into that parking lot," Routh said, by which time the ratio would be closer to four students per space instead of two.

"We need to think through ... the policy about who gets to park there and under what circumstances," Routh said.

The lot is used by more than just students as well. "It's not just for the students, it's the parents who are coming on campus," LaSusa said. The high school also has regular visitors for different on-campus events, some of whom have difficulty finding parking.

Members of the class of 2012 in favor of expanding the lot, citing Kyleigh's Law, which prevents drivers under the age of 21 from transporting more than one passenger under 21. The lot would have to expand, they said, just so students could abide by the law.

Montague and other residents have requested that students make greater use of the parking lot at Colony Pool and walk the half mile from the pool to the high school. "I see no reason why seniors can't park at Colony and walk to the high school," Montague said.

 

Editor's Note: A prior version of this article stated that the public hearing would take place on May 28. The hearing will be on May 23. Chatham Patch apologizes for the error.


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