Park-and-stay?

After the television show “Inside Edition” aired an episode last March underscoring the risks of students driving during school days, officials in the Valley Stream Central High School District began reevaluating its own student-driving policy.

North High School student drivers were just one of the many groups profiled in the episode, but the video caught some North students speeding and driving recklessly on local streets during the school day. This prompted the school board to consider changing its student-parking policy and possibly prohibiting students who bring cars to school from driving off campus during lunch periods.

Last month, the district sent out a survey to 4,600 homes that listed three student-parking options for parents to pick from — leave the policy as is; revise it to prohibit students from driving their cars off campus until after seventh period; or the aforementioned option along with restricting on-street parking within a half-mile of each high school between 7 and 9:30 a.m. during school days.

According to school officials, the district got back 225 responses and the board will discuss the results at its Nov. 3 meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Marc Bernstein said he’s spoken with the board on how to improve student safety, and wants the district to be proactive with the issue rather than reactive. He pointed to an incident last spring, where a car driven by and carrying Central students flipped over. No one was hurt in the accident. He added that often after an accident like that, a school closes its campus entirely, but that is not something he wants to do. “I think we should continue to let them bring their cars to school and park,” Bernstein said. “Many students need their cars to go to work after school, or to pick up siblings. But I don’t think they should be driving during lunch periods.”

South PTSA president Janice Sievers said she thinks that students with licenses are old enough to make their own decisions, and that the student parking policy should stay as is. “If they give them licenses, they are old enough to be trusted to drive safely,” Sievers said. “I spoke to a few parents, and most of them feel it should be left the same, but there are some that feel it should be modified. That’s the flavor I get.”

However Council of PTAs President James Lavery thinks there should be restrictions. He said students should not be allowed to take their cars off campus during the middle of the day, especially since their lunch periods are only 40 minutes long. “With the lunch periods being short, it’s going to cause them to rush back,” he said. “You don’t want them speeding back to school so they don’t get into trouble.”

Bernstein said he preferred the option where on-street parking within a half-mile of the school would be prohibited during morning hours. He added that since the school district does not have the authority to restrict parking on local streets, it is obligated to reach out to the community if the school board adopted that option.

Around Central High School, the village would have to make the decision on restricting on-street parking, while the Hempstead town board would decide for the areas surrounding North and South high schools.

Village Clerk Vinny Ang said the district would need a petition signed by every resident who lives within a half-mile of the school in order for the village to prohibit parking on those streets during weekday mornings. Ang said he doesn’t think that’s a viable option. “To inconvenience residents within a half-mile of the school is not the right choice,” Ang said. “It’s too far reaching.”

Town of Hempstead spokeswoman Susan Trenkle said the school board would have to send its request to Supervisor Kate Murray, who then passes it on to the traffic control division. Trenkle said the town would survey the area and canvas homeowners to determine the impact on the community. “If it was approved, the paperwork would go up to Albany,” she said. “Since it would be a local law, Albany needs to approve it.”

Tony Spezio, who is the PTSA president at Central, said he doesn’t know what option is best for students, but is happy that the board is being proactive. “I’m sure there are some parents in West Hempstead that wish the district was proactive,” Spezio said, referring to an April 2008 car accident in which two West Hempstead high school students were killed. “I’m happy they are looking into it and not waiting for something to happen.”