It’s 8:10 a.m. and there are 10 minutes left to get to school and swipe in. Cars are circling, some are double parked, yellow busses are idling, and students are running across the street. There is no place to park. No one is getting to their class on time even if they left their house an hour before arrival.
Parking is a challenge on the Jerome Parker Campus. Although there is a parking lot, and students are allowed to drive, it is difficult to find a parking space because of the surrounding neighborhood and the simple fact that there are four schools on one campus, all competing for a small number of spots.
Although, according to the school office, some people in the community may be outraged that there is tons of traffic and no parking during school hours and during after school events, they are not the only ones who seem to have difficulty finding parking.
“Parking around here is horrendous. In order to get a decent spot, you have to be here by at least 6 a.m. But it works both ways. If people didn’t take up two spots when parking, they would give others a parking spot. Our school has a full staff, but what about McCown High School and Marsh Avenue Expeditionary Learning School. They don’t have a full staff in their schools yet. I’d hate to see what parking is going to look like when all four schools on our campus have full staff and a full student body,” said para professional, Jessica Carucci.
Although it is easy to blame this conflict on the incompetent person who took up two spots, the real question is, why wasn’t the parking lot made big enough to accommodate the staff in each school, freeing up street spaces for student drivers.
Moreover, idling delivery trucks, and parents who wait for their students to enter the building, block access to spots in front and do not allow passing traffic to steadily move.
Our school may be small, but there are a high number of student drivers. Out of eighty senior students, about thirteen drive to school on a daily basis. That’s thirteen student cars in one grade, and the number of drivers will increase in January when more students graduate from driver’s education.
So many students drive because transportation on the Island, as compared to other boroughs, is very poor. Busses are slow due to traffic-clogged streets, and many arrive later than the posted schedule. In other boroughs students have a variety of public transit choices, often including more than one subway.
Also, the nearby spots are unavailable because parking is only for community residents.
Our principal Aimee Horowitz says she understands the concern about parking and has been working with Community Board 2 in hopes of expanding our parking lot to gain additional parking, hopefully reducing all the weekday morning chaos.
All in all, be courteous when parking your car and leave room for others. Respect the homes and property of others, our school, and most importantly be safe driving !
