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September 3, 2010

Our View: Schools see profit in student parking

"What's next?" an online commenter wanted to know after reading Wednesday's story about the increase in parking fees at Danvers High School.

Will we see fees for dropping off students in 2012, and fees for walking to school the year after that?

Others asked why teachers shouldn't have to pay a similar fee?

To be fair, the $20 fee Danvers students will pay this year seems pretty reasonable compared to the $100 their peers at Swampscott and Masconomet high schools are charged, and a downright bargain next to Beverly's $179 charge.

But now that the door has been opened to yet another source of non-tax revenue, where will it or should it end?

Might police officers and firefighters have to pay to park at their respective headquarters? Should there be meters in the parking lots around city and town halls? Should the elderly have to pay a fee to park at the local senior center? (We'll know these are truly desperate times if the latter ever comes to pass.)

Some worry the fees will only encourage students to park on the streets in neighborhoods surrounding their schools. Perhaps in those districts where students can afford $100 or more for a parking sticker, administrators might combat this by offering valet parking for another buck or two.

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