Ask the Chief

 Yes, there are changes being made to parking at and around the school. These changes are made to improve the safety of students and to prevent traffic collisions along with keeping traffic moving smoothly.

Over the next few weeks, there will be a road construction crew in town resurfacing county 10 from Hwy 68 to Hwy 59. This will include the entire length of N. Monroe Street. As part of this resurfacing project, fresh paint will be used to clearly mark where you can legally park and not park.

For instance, new signs will be added and yellow curb markings will be lengthened so people can easily see where not to park. This is a very big problem during home games where people have been parking anywhere they like causing traffic hazards (most of the time the student parking lot is only half full).

Once the signs and painting are done, I will strictly enforce parking restrictions at the school during events so pay attention or get a ticket. Another location is on N. Monroe Street just south of the new gym.

There is a section along the curb (next to the school) that has three signs on the building showing that it is a bus loading zone. This area is for school buses to drop off and pick up teams participating in sporting events.

There will be additional paint applied to the street for the bus zone but the current signs are large and easy to see so no one should be parking in this area. If you have elementary school kids, there is a drop off sight on N. Jackson Street next to the school.

This section can accommodate 3-4 vehicles and allows parents with small kids to pull up to the curb, park, walk their kids to the building and then leave so that another parent may drop their kids off.

The front of the school has several signs showing no parking/bus loading zone so no one should be pulling up to where the buses go and letting their kids out.

Finally, stopping in the street or double parking will no longer be tolerated in front of the school, at the school administration doors or at the new gym doors. If you are dropping off or picking up your high school student, you can either pull into a parking spot or use the student parking lot.

When cars stop in the road, they create a hazard for other vehicles and pedestrians. In addition, when cars stop in the road at the administrative doors or the new gyms doors they block handicap parking spots.

These changes are not new, they simply have not been consistently enforced in the past. These are the same driving and parking rules that are found in every community and on every street or highway.

I understand that we live in a small town and sometimes we prefer a little more casual life in town. But our school is large enough and the streets surrounding the school are busy enough that we need to slow down and follow the rules so that we provide a safe environment for everyone.