At Monday's School Board meeting, the Board approved the Parking License Agreement with Mt. Lebanon United Lutheran Church in substantially the form presented, subject to final approval by Dr. Steinhauer and the Solicitor. In this agreement, Mt. Lebanon United Lutheran Church will provide 127 parking spaces for $1500 per year. The School District must remove the snow from the lot, including Sundays. In addition, the School District will hire a crossing guard for the students. The School District will repave and restripe the lot at the end of the construction project.
Is this something the Municipality needs to be approving, as well? The District gets its salt and fuel from the Municipality stockpile off Cedar Blvd. Crossing guards report to the Police Department, which I think, the Municipality funds 50%.
Update 10:09 PM It has been confirmed by Manager Steve Feller that crossing guards are funded 50% by the Municipality. He also said that there is no requirement of guards to cross high school students or adults, only elementary and middle school students.
10 comments:
Let me get this straight.
High school students drive their cars to the Lutheran church lot.
They get out of their cars and walk to the school, crossing Washington Rd.
They are qualified to operate machinery that can maim or kill pedestrians,
yet they need adult assistance to cross the street.
I assume they are all able-bodied students, because disabled students
should have parking available on-site at the high school.
Ostergaard and Birks both said we need to protect students who
drive themselves to school from being hit by cars possibly driven
by other students also driving themselves to the same school.
What is wrong with this picture?
David Huston
I suppose this is a really silly question.
Why can't staff and students park at the Dixon Field and batting cages lots?
Would eliminate the cost of crossing guard and the fee and repainting goes to everyone in the municipality rather than a small congregation!
- Giffen Good
And it doesn't cause a conflict with the popular Farmers Market!
Seems every time the school board comes up with some solution somebody else ends up paying for it, doesn't it!
- Giffen Good
Note who is the organist and music director, Giffen. When I was the treasurer at my church, we paid someone to clear the lots. They didn't pay us.
Elaine
So here's a suggestion. Let the teachers park in the Dixon lots and pay the municipality a minor fee to keep them plowed and salted. Contractually the district probably has to provide parking for teachers as the Mellon or Washington teachers filed a grievance when either Washington or Mellon were remodelled.
How much do residents in private industry pay out their own pockets for their parking spots I wonder?
As far as the students that want to drive to school, let them pay the church for the priviledge.
Why should residents fork over $24,000 or so for a minority of students when the money could go to books or programs that would benefit all.
Certainly has to be cheaper and more equitable, I'd think.
- Giffen Good
I am a 1972 high school renovation survivor. My senior class had 760 students. I am still meeting classmates to this day. Anybody out there remember the split schedules we had? There was no extra parking set aside for us, to my knowledge. But then again, I didn't drive a car to school.
Elaine
Contractually the school district probably is required to provide parking for the teachers in one form or another. Dixon would suffice, I'd think.
After all, the administration/SB imagined it was close enough for students to walk down to the proposed shared pool/ice rink complex about 5-6 years ago to take swim classes during the school day.
As far as student parking- everything discussed to this point alludes to the fact that student parking is a 'priviledge' not a right.
As long as the school district must have a lot (municipal code remember) there is NO reason why the spaces shouldn't be made available for student parking.
There is though nothing in the PA school code that REQUIRES student parking facilities when they don't have an available lot!
So, for those students that want to drive and can afford it, I see no problem with the Luthern Church charging them a buck or two a day to use their lot.
I do have a problem with taxpayers subsidizing a facility for a precious few, when we require the rest of the student body to walk from all over the community or make their own arrangements.
- Giffen Good
At my high school in Alabama, there was not sufficient space to allow every kid to drive their cars. Teachers and seniors were given a parking permit. It was a lottery for the juniors.
As I didn't win the lottery, I paid a local church to park in their parking lot every day, something like $2/day. It was a private money making venture by the church.
Why not repeat that here? Have teachers get priority, use a lottery system for the students, with those not winning the lottery having to find their own way to school.
Doesn't Mt. Lebanon School System market itself as a "walking" community?
Anonymous, thank you for your comment, but in the future, please identify yourself by signing your first and last name.
Yesterday was quite a day for this blog, and I have many new readers. Thanks for reading, Folks!
Elaine
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