By RYAN O’CONNOR
roconnor@yourneighborhoodnews.com

BOW – John House-Myers once sold his scuba gear, bought a truck and moved from the Virgin Islands to Alaska.

Now, the new principal of Bow High School, House-Myers must help figure out how and where to safely park his truck on campus.

Actually, as chairman of a new task force aimed at addressing parking problems at the school, he will primarily look at student parking.

“Our goal is to articulate what the problems are,” he said. “We’re trying to get a pretty good cross-section of people to come in and let us know what are the concerns and what are the issues. We just want to hear from all stakeholders.”
In addition to House-Myers, the group includes parents, students, town and school officials and Bow Police Chief Jeff Jaran.

So what is the main concern prompting the formation of this task force?

“Safety. It always comes down to safety,” said House-Myers. “It’s one thing to look at the parking issues now, and it’s another thing to look at it when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground. It presents a much different situation then.” 

The lack of sufficient parking spots may be an issue.

“It seems like there are a lot of areas of the campus used for parking that haven’t necessarily been designated as a parking space,” House-Myers said.

“So, if kids are parking on the side of the road, is that a problem? For me, what it comes down to is safety.”

House-Myers said the student population is much greater now than it was 10 years ago when the school first opened, and he is hoping to take an active approach to future growth.

“We want to try to get ahead of the issues and respond to them before we come to it,” he said. “Our purpose won’t be to put these into effect. Obviously, that’s up to the school board. But, we will be presenting our findings to the school board and with the help of community input, they will make the final decisions.”

Many students, however, have different parking concerns they would like to see addressed.

“There’s not enough spaces,” said senior Matt Watkins. “For me, it’s not as much about safety concerns as it is about ticket concerns. Because there aren’t enough parking spots, you end up having to park illegally every day.”

Students have the option of parking near the basketball courts off White Rock Road; however, one student said she  prefers not to walk that far.

“There might be enough parking, but they are too far away or there are spots we could park, but the school won’t let us,” said senior Caitlin Verville. “If you have to get to a class and you’re late, it’s just a pain to walk that far.”