December 10, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 15 Open parking system postponed for further input Open student parking at Midland Park High School was rescinded before it began last week. On Sunday, Nov. 30, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Marie Cirasella sent an e-blast notifying students of the change. “The revised Open Parking System at MPHS, which was scheduled to go into effect on Monday, December 1st, has been postponed. The assigned student parking spaces for seniors will remain in effect at this time. “We are grateful to those who came forward express- ing concerns, and all suggestions will be considered as we move forward. Please be advised school administra- tion will continue to review all options for improving the student parking issue and will also be seeking student input into the process,” the notice said. Seniors and their parents wasted no time in voicing their opinions. They filled the board of education’s meet- ing room Tuesday objecting to the original decision to take away assigned parking for seniors and allow any student with a license to park on the school grounds. “What we see as a flaw in the open parking system is the issue of safety. The likelihood of accidents would be significantly increased with this system,” Senior Class President Taejin Pak told the board. He said that as stu- dents vied for a vacant space in the rush to get to home- room on time, “hectic situations are inevitable. Having assigned spots would not only avoid the chaos that would ensue from the free-for-all parking system, but it would also facilitate means of accountability and consistency,” Pak said. He further asked that the senior spots be shifted down to take up the spaces recently made available. Under an arrangement with the town, 20 spots behind MPHS were made available for staff use last month to open up spaces up front for students. Senior Class Vice President Zoey Adams said without the assigned spaces, if a senior comes back from a break, his space may be taken up by a visitor, making him late for class but unable to get a late pass. “We can’t control that. That won’t change,” said board President Dr. Maryalice Thomas. “The best solution is for juniors to register for the spaces left over from seniors,” said senior Joe D’Onofrio. He added that it was unrealistic to expect seniors to come to school 15 minutes early to get a spot under the open system. Parent Celeste Potenzano suggested allowing open parking in the unassigned spaces and closing them off as another senior registers. “And if a senior is going away, he should let a junior know his space is available,” she said. At present juniors are not permitted to park on campus. “We will come up to a hybrid of all plans,” Dr. Thomas said, adding that perhaps rewarding car pooling might be an incentive.. “We’re looking at all the data. Have confidence and faith that we want what you want: safe parking for all seniors and as many juniors as possible,” summarized Dr. Cirasella. “It’ll take some time to figure it out, but we will figure it out. We’ll continue to have the discussion,” she added. Junior parent Steve Vander Wiele, who began the parking discussion by attending meetings urging school and town officials to come up with a solution for junior parking, said after the meeting that student safety had been his primary goal as well. He said it is not safe for juniors to park on the street and trudge through snow when nearly 50 spaces are empty in the school lot. Vander Wiele pointed out that the town had made 20 spaces available so the juniors could park, and those spaces should be made available immediately. He added that he knows from his daughter and other parents that juniors who drive had already worked it out to park at the end of the lot in the unnumbered spots so as not to conflict with senior parking. “I just hope a decision is made quickly so the juniors can park before the snow comes,” Vander Wiele said.