Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
The math is simple: There are 11 parking spots reserved for Academy at Palumbo teachers and 107 teachers and staff at the South Philadelphia<\/a> school.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no parking lot and people who work at the acclaimed magnet school<\/a> tend to drive, teachers say. <\/p>\n Though public transportation is an option for some school staff, many teachers live outside the city, with fewer transit options nearby. And while some schools in the Philadelphia School District are close to bus, train, or trolley stops, others are farther afield, making them tougher to access via public transit. <\/p>\n \u201cBefore I even walk in the doors of the school, I am already overwhelmed with stress every single day,\u201d Palumbo teacher Sheila Fisher said. She and other Palumbo staff might circle for 30 minutes or more hunting for a space and often have to park in two-hour spots, they said \u2014 meaning they have to dash out during the school day to move their cars. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a common problem at many Philadelphia School District schools that lack dedicated parking lots, or those that have lots too small to fit all employees\u2019 cars. Amid a continuing teacher shortage, in an underfunded school system that offers lower pay and tougher working conditions than many neighboring districts, it\u2019s a quality-of-life problem with a real effect. <\/p>\n Bridget Mason, a Palumbo teacher, said neighbors have threatened to slash her tires if she parks in front of the public spaces in front of their houses. <\/p>\n Fisher estimates she\u2019s gotten 150 or more tickets in the three years she\u2019s worked at Palumbo and said she has paid close to $5,000 in tickets and lot fees on the days she just can\u2019t find any spot.<\/p>\n Fisher loves teaching at Palumbo and hopes it will be her last job before retirement, years from now. But that\u2019s not a given, she said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe stress has come to the point where my husband has mentioned the option of me leaving Palumbo to work elsewhere, because parking has become such a challenge,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s a nightmare\u2019<\/p>\n To park at Penn Treaty High School in Fishtown<\/a>, you can\u2019t arrive too early, because neighbors won\u2019t have moved their cars yet. But you can\u2019t arrive too late, or you\u2019ll miss your window, get locked out of a spot, and be late to work because you have to \u201ccircle and circle\u201d for a space, said Kerri Todd, a longtime Penn Treaty teacher.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare \u2014 parking is so scarce,\u201d Todd said. Some cars park on the sidewalk around the perimeter of the building.<\/p>\n Todd knows exactly when she has to arrive for the best chance at a parking spot. And if she ends up having to settle for a two-hour space, it\u2019s not as tough as it would be for other teachers, because Todd\u2019s free periods make convenient times for car moving. <\/p>\n But it\u2019s still difficult, Todd said. (Penn Treaty teachers have the extra headache of knowing their school is closing for good in 2030 \u2014 the fifth- through 12th-grade school is one of 17 the district plans to close permanently.<\/a>)<\/p>\n Even Todd\u2019s principal gets into the act. If she\u2019s working in her office, Wajibah Thompson might hang her head out the window and help.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s like, \u2018Yo, Kerri, move over, I think another car can squeeze in there.\u2019 She\u2019ll ask neighbors, \u2018Can you move your car up a little more? We can get another car in,\u2019\u201d Todd said.<\/p>\n Parking is also a perpetual worry at Mu\u00f1oz-Mar\u00edn Elementary at Third and Ontario Streets in North Philadelphia<\/a>, said Jennifer Goldman, a veteran teacher there. Mu\u00f1oz-Mar\u00edn has a lot, but it\u2019s not nearly large enough for all staff at the 500-student school.<\/p>\n Compounding the problem, Goldman said, is a vacant parcel adjacent to Mu\u00f1oz-Mar\u00edn\u2019s parking lot \u2014 people dump trash there, and it\u2019s smelly and not usable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s awful parking around here,\u201d Goldman said. \u201cWe just have to circle \u2014 it\u2019s a race to find a spot, and sometimes people are late. Residents have started [putting cones in] their spots.\u201d<\/p>\n Educators working in neighborhoods around the city struggle with parking, with teachers at schools including Bache-Martin in Fairmount<\/a>, Fanny Jackson Coppin and Southwark in South Philadelphia, and Robert Morris in North Philadelphia raising the issues to an Inquirer reporter.<\/p>\n \u2018It should not be this difficult\u2019<\/p>\n There\u2019s some precedent for school parking help. <\/p>\n Councilmember Jamie Gauthier<\/a> paved a way for special parking permits for teachers at Powel Elementary in West Philadelphia<\/a>. (The same permits are not available to Science Leadership Academy Middle School staffers, who work in the same building.) <\/p>\n The permits are not free: The cost is roughly similar to the price of a monthly transit pass.<\/p>\n Palumbo\u2019s parent group wants a similar option for their teachers and staff, but three years of efforts have yielded only frustration, its leaders said. They\u2019ve been shuffled from bureaucrat to bureaucrat, and ultimately have been told the person who can make it happen is City Council President Kenyatta Johnson<\/a>, whose district includes Palumbo. <\/p>\n Vincent Thompson, Johnson\u2019s spokesperson, said Johnson understands parent and staff concerns but \u201cat the same time, any discussion of changes to parking policy must consider the impact on the broader community\u201d \u2014 the Philadelphia Parking Authority<\/a>, neighbors, and residents who would be affected by turning some spaces into school staff permit parking during school hours.<\/p>\n \u201cCouncil President Johnson and his district office are willing to work with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to find thoughtful, practical solutions to parking challenges around our schools in the Second Councilmanic District,\u201d Thompson said in a statement.<\/p>\n The Philadelphia School District did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Martin O\u2019Rourke, a spokesperson for the PPA, said it \u201cdoes its best to assist whenever possible, recognizing the delicate balance that exists among residents, businesses, visitors and teachers necessary to manage and share the limited curb space available for parking in many neighborhoods near local schools.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s frustrating to Julie Kaeli, the former Palumbo HSA president, that three years of \u201cbegging and nagging\u201d Johnson\u2019s office and others on behalf of students and teachers has led nowhere, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re giving us lip service,\u201d Kaeli said. \u201cIt\u2019s so clear to us that they are no interested in addressing this issue. Our school is highly ranked, our teachers are amazing and so dedicated. We know what little resources and support they have. This is such an easy fix; it should not be this difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Parking was a must have\u2019<\/p>\n The lack of adequate parking for staff has consequences, according to educators and those who support them. <\/p>\n \u201cFor me, parking was a must have when deciding on a school,\u201d said Cathy Provenzano, who recently retired from teaching at Hill-Freedman World Academy in East Mount Airy<\/a>. Hill-Freedman has a large lot.<\/p>\n Parking problems have scared off teachers who were otherwise interested in coming to Palumbo, too.<\/p>\n \u201cEach year when interviewing potential new staff, the school may be interested in offering a position to a candidate, but candidates turn down offers because of the lack of parking,\u201d the school HSA said in a statement. \u201cWith the teacher shortages the district has had, this is not ideal.\u201d<\/p>\n