The school committee passed a proposal to lower the cost of student parking from the current $180 to $50 a year with a 3-0 decision. (Vice Chairman Chip Harrington abstained from voting due to conflict of interest) Student Representative for the school committee, senior Elizabeth Skaza, along with the LHS Student Council proposed this idea to the committee on Tuesday, April 14.

The idea behind the proposal is, “to help students out but still have the luxury to park in the back parking lot,” said Skaza.

Money that students pay for parking goes directly into an account that funds the upkeep and repavement of the parking lot. However, according to the committee the parking lot only needs to be repaved every 14 years. Having students pay $180 each was an absurd amount to charge and even after last years repaving left the account with a substantial amount of money left over.

“This proposal has my full support,” said Superintendent Todd Gazda.

All other members of the committee were in favor or the proposal and gave their support to the students as well. Member of the school committee Jacob Oliveira said it was a responsible move to include a small fee in the proposal rather than asking for no cost of student parking.

Principal Lisa Nemeth stated that the process for selecting which students receive a parking space will proceed as normal on a first come first serve basis.