Crash! Lots of students get in car accidents in the school parking lots, but to park in the parking lot they have to be a student here and have a parking pass.
Students can get a parking pass from School Resource Officer Travis Beahm.
“They’re free there is no cost,” Beahm said.
However administration has had some fun with the passes.
“One year we played a joke on the school for open house and told people that the first five hundred were free but the rest cost and all the students were worried about it but they didn’t know is that they only sold four hundred and twenty the year before,” Principal Jay Opperman said.
If there is an accident involving vehicles on school property, there is a current protocol students should follow.
“Reporting it would be the first thing you would want to do,” Opperman said.
If there was any issue with student accidents it would be would be “people not reporting it,” Opperman said.
After filing a report Beahm would like to see the diver insurance papers.
“There has been a time when the students have not had their papers. In that situation I would give them a fix-it ticket,” Beahm said.
A fix it ticket is used if the driver’s insurance card is missing.The driver would have a certain amount of time to bring his/her card to show that he/she has insurance. If the time limit is not met, a citation will be issued.
Beahm has worked for the school for about a year in a half but has worked in the police force for 15 years.
When in comes to an accident the first thing people think is everyone okay.
“Working here for a year and a half and with the accidents that have happened there has been no severe injuries and no one has had to go to the hospital,” Beahm said.
There are more than 1,000 students at school but surprisingly there only eight to ten car accidents a year. Neither Beahm nor Opperman deal with the cars after reporting it.
“We let the parents talk to parents and the children talk to children outside of school. We only take action if the wreck was intentional; then there would be some disciplinary action,” Opperman said.
It is always important to make sure students are careful and report any accidents.
