“Northwestern is blessed that our parents and community are very supportive of the school and its activities,” he said. “When you have a presentation like an elementary musical or a drama production, there’s never enough parking spaces. We’ve been adding spaces as we can and are considering adding a few more spaces.”
Pencil said when the district built its new school buildings, the state did not approve the number of spaces that the district requested or the number of spaces that the township zoning inspector requested.
Superintendent Tony Orr said he is currently in discussions with architects and civil engineers, but added that discussions are only preliminary and officials do not have cost estimates on the proposed project.
“We’re going to wait and see and hopefully if it’s something that’s feasible,” Orr said.
The old Northwestern High School, built in 1975, at the campus on Troy Road in German Twp., the middle school, built in 1956, and the elementary school, built in 1950, were all demolished last year.
Pencil said two of the buildings that were demolished on the campus had blacktop between them that was used for overflow parking, but that space is gone.
Still, he said limited parking has always been an issue at the schools.
“Overall, there are slightly fewer spaces than we had before, and what we had before there was not enough,” Pencil said.
Orr said he and board members are looking at the issue closely.
At the elementary school, Orr said there are several daytime performances and programs that are bringing crowds such as the Veterans Day, Grandparents Day, Donuts for Dads and Muffins for Moms programs.
“We are blessed at Northwestern in that we have a very participatory community,” Orr said. “We have parents, guardians, grandparents and extended families that certainly care about and are involved in the education of their children.”
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