Marblehead High sets new parking rules

MARBLEHEAD – Marblehead High Principal John Ziergiebel knows how to put some teeth into the rules.Ziergiebel wants to take away the high school parking spaces of high school seniors who repeatedly drive without their seatbelts on – or allow passengers to ride without their seatbelts fastened.That was the core of a new policy he presented to the School Committee and the committee members accepted it as a first reading. Ziergiebel was asked to come up with a fitting punishment for underclassmen before the second and third readings, which could come as early as tonight.According to the policy as originally written, first-time offenders will receive a written warning and traffic-safety educational material and their parents or guardians will be notified.Second-time offenders will lose parking privileges at the high school for two weeks. Third-time offenders will have parking privileges revoked for the remainder of the school year. Non-student operators will receive a warning along with traffic-safety educational material."Few things are more prized by seniors at MHS than their parking spot," Ziergiebel told the committee.Calling enforcement "easy," he said that he makes it a rule to be in the traffic circle in the morning and in the parking lot in the afternoon, so that "Violations can be dealt with tactfully and quickly."The new policy was in response to a letter from Sheila Burgess, director of the Highway Safety Division, asking for high school principals to consider such a policy. Ziergiebel said he spoke with Police Chief Robert Picariello and was told that from Jan. 1, 2005-Aug. 12 Marblehead had 118 accidents involving people 18 or younger, or about 10 percent of the total number of traffic accidents during that period.Asked if he would consider skipping the warning and yank the parking space for the first offense, the principal asked the committee "for a chance to work with these kids."