NHS Parking Permits Issued  To Students

By Eliza Hallabeck

With the Newtown High School expansion project awaiting the approval of an additional $6 million, parking permits for students were distributed in a drawing.

On Friday, September 5, students in their senior year who applied for a parking space were chosen by lottery to receive their passes for this school year.

According to NHS Assistant Principal Scot Clayton, there are a total of 365 parking spaces at the high school, but the construction project, which was set to break ground originally in August, has limited the number of usable parking spaces for students.

“We went into the year knowing we would have 100 less,” said Mr Clayton.

There are 435 students in the senior class at the high school this year, but not every student applied for a parking pass, according to Mr Clayton. A little over 260 parking passes were given out during the initial drawing.

Students in their junior year at the school have had the option of parking their cars at the high school in previous years, but due to the construction, permits for student parking spaces have been limited to students in their senior year.

“If we find out construction won’t begin for many, many months, we’ll go ahead and open it,” said Mr Clayton.

At this point there are no exceptions, but Mr Clayton said, a number of available parking spaces were held for students who can demonstrate hardship and a necessity for the ability to park at the high school.

“We don’t have the space,” said Mr Clayton.

With the construction for the expansion project pushed back, one option considered to relieve crowding in the high school for the next school year could cut the number of parking spaces even more. The addition of eight more classrooms in the form of portables for next year could limit the number of student drivers in the future.