It was a Monday, the second full day of classes at the new high school.

Friday, January 05, 2001

It was a Monday, the second full day of classes at the new high school. Ten cars were towed, and the administration had made a strong statement: Follow the new parking lot rules or pay the penalty.

Now, six weeks later, the parking lot supervisors at Albert Lea High School are handing out tickets instead of calling for tow truck.

&uot;A process is now in place to provide students with warnings should they park illegally,&uot; said Principal Al Root. &uot;The cars that have to be towed are students who repeatedly violate our parking procedures.&uot;

Parking supervisor Roy Klaushaar said the new policy is less harsh than the original plan to tow all cars without a permit.

&uot;I think we want to give the kids a chance to take care of getting a proper permit before we tow anyone,&uot; said Klaushaar, who patrols the lot every morning. &uot;This is a more friendly way of running things.&uot;

Some cars will still be towed, Klaushaar said, if students ignore the tickets and don’t pay up. Parking privileges can also be revoked.

&uot;It’s pretty simple. If the kids display their permits the way they’re asked, then there won’t be a problem,&uot; Klaushaar said. &uot;If they don’t, they might not even get their report card until the tickets are paid.&uot;

Despite a few parental complaints early on, Root thinks the parking lot situation has gone smoothly.

&uot;It’s going better than I could have anticipated,&uot; Root said. &uot;Students have adjusted well to the change, and our parking personnel are doing a great job of supervising the high school property.&uot;

The school has sold 368 permits for the main lot at a price of $25. Another 125 staff members also use the lot. The Hammer lot, which costs $10 per permit, has 110 stalls, but is rarely full.

&uot;Some students have asked to switch from the Hammer parking lot to the high school lot as space becomes available,&uot; Root said. &uot;They are willing to pay the difference between $10 and $25 to park closer to the school.&uot;

Lynette Emerson, the afternoon parking lot supervisor, talks with students every day about everything from paying tickets to parking in straighter lines. She thinks the students have accepted the idea of parking permits.

&uot;I think a lot of them are happy to know they will have a spot every day,&uot; Emerson said.

Emerson said that some of the kids drive as many as three or four different vehicles depending on the day, making it difficult to keep track. Many days, she must sort through a stack of notes from students who are trying to explain their situations.

&uot;We try really hard to work with them,&uot; Emerson said. &uot;If they would just put the permit on the rear view mirror, we don’t care as much what they drive to school.&uot;

Emerson and Klaushaar began working out of a small trailer on Wednesday so students will know where to find them.

&uot;It should be nice to have a home base,&uot; Emerson said. &uot;Now that we have this trailer, we can take care of the tickets and answer questions from here.&uot;

Klaushaar thinks that he and Emerson can run the whole parking lot operation independently from the trailer by the end of the year.

&uot;We won’t have to send them inside to take care of business anymore,&uot; Klaushaar said.

Root said that he is not considering any major changes in parking policy, but will gladly listen to any parent or student concerns.

&uot;We will continue to monitor all new procedures that have been put into place and review them at the end of the year,&uot; Root said. &uot;I have received some positive feedback from the student council about how things have been going, and we’ll be meeting with them soon to address any issues students have about the new school.&uot;

Parents will also have a chance to weigh in on the parking issue at the next parent meeting, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. in the student commons.

Overall, Root feels the closed campus concept has been well received. Many parents, Root said, actually prefer the students to be on campus all day and not driving around at lunch time.

&uot;The closed campus is running very smoothly. Of course some students, especially the seniors, are still adjusting. They are used to the freedom of an open lunch period,&uot; Root said. &uot;But most students are in a comfortable daily routine, and many parents have complimented the school for going to a closed-campus environment.&uot;