Last Wednesday, parents of Montclair High School students received an e-mail regarding the new traffic flow and parking around the high school. Before the e-mail was sent, a group of parents were ticketed along Park Street in front of the George Inness Annex. The next morning, students parking in the zones with new signs that read “No parking between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m.” were also ticketed. There was also a police officer on the corner of Park St. and Chestnut St. informing drivers of the new traffic rules.

This has all led to much confusion and many questions. After many emails, hours on the phone and running up and down the stairs from office to office at 205 Claremont Ave., I finally have some answers.

MHS School Action Team. The School Action Team has been working on parking issues around the school for more than a year.  ”The main goal of changing the traffic flow around the school is for the safety of the students,” said Helen Mazarakis, parent co-chair of the team. She told me that one of the parent members of the S.A.T., Carol Ewertsen, has spent hours speaking to the crossing guards and watching the traffic flow near the school. The S.A.T. was surprised when the new signs went up and the rules changed, as they had not received any prior information to the official change. Parents who did not attend the meetings can read the S.A.T.’s minutes on the school’s site. Continue Reading