[CCHS] opening and parking

[Art Dulong]

Good morning to all,

	The opening of school seemed to go quite smoothly this year. There are
always little glitches of some sort, but considering that we have well
over 300 new students and about a dozen new staff the smooth opening was
remarkable. I can report that teachers and students are actively engaged
in the teaching/learning process. Homework is being assigned and (at the
moment) almost all of it is being completed. 

	I wanted to say a few things about parking at CCHS.

	This year the police chief and the fire chief met with all administrators
to inform them that they are going to concentrate on helping us create "a
culture of safety" in and around the schools. They outlined many goals.
One of them was maintaining parking at the school buildings only in
approved areas. 
The basic problem is one of which I am sure you are well aware - we do not
have sufficient parking in the areas where people feel the need. This is
especially true immediately after school when people arrive to pick up
their children and then later whenever there is an event (typically
sports).

	Officer Scott Camillieri has already begun trying to prevent people from
parking alongside the caf and the grass oval immediately after school for
the pick up time. He also is ticketing cars parked in clearly labeled no
parking areas. For the pick up time I would suggest either parking along
the construction fence or parking out towards (or in) the parking lot at
the end of the building. In either case you will either have to prearrange
an area with your child or train them to search for you. The after sports
pick up and the during events parking are problematic as there are limited
spaces in the preferred area near the lower gym. We do worry about our
ability to get an emergency vehicle to the fields if one were needed,
because people seem to park anywhere and everywhere. Brent Clark has begun
to use "cones" to mark a no parking path to allow the emergency vehicles.
Once again if the very limited lower lot is filled I would suggest parking
along side the fence on the school's entry road or in the lot at the other
end of the building. I understand the problems people have with these
areas, but the potential for safety issues caused by parking wherever is a
bigger problem.

	I wish I had a perfect solution that allowed everyone to park near the
event, but I do not. I lieu of that I simply ask for your cooperation.

Arthur Dulong