Norwood School Committeeman William Pudsey Proposes Ban on Student Parking at Norwood High School-August 1, 1979

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School Committeeman William Pudsey announced that he has garnered support from some parents and students for a controversial proposal to largely eliminate student parking at Norwood High School. Having opposed student parking for years, William Pudsey cited several compelling reasons for the ban, including the ongoing gas crisis, the severe lack of daytime parking for school visitors, and repeated driving infractions by students such as speeding and dangerous cutting across a traffic rotary near the school. Pointing out that while no one has been injured yet, there have been some close calls, William Pudsey argued that eliminating parking privileges serves as a healthy form of discipline that should be encouraged. Under his developing proposal—which he planned to formally present later in the month—most students would be barred from driving to school, though exceptions might be made for seniors with valid, demonstrated needs, explicitly rejecting the notion that holding an after-school job makes driving mandatory. While anticipating some pushback from juniors newly acquiring their licenses, he vowed to pursue the issue until he secured positive results.

School administration officials voiced sympathy with the parking crunch. Michael Gallahue, a Norwood High School vice principal, noted that the primary issue is that the designated student parking area has become so thoroughly inadequate that cars constantly overflow onto neighboring streets like Peabody Road, with expansion physically impossible due to surrounding athletic fields and private property. Although student reaction was muted due to the summer break, officials expected a fierce debate when classes resumed in the fall.

By contrast, neighboring communities reported managing student vehicles with fewer headaches. Dr. Bernard Shulman, superintendent of schools in Canton, explained that Canton students must display parking stickers, lock their cars immediately upon arrival, and leave them parked throughout the day. In Dedham, High School Principal Peter Smith noted that limited student parking is accommodated in a designated lot some distance from the building without heavy driving encouragement. William Rex, principal of Foxboro High School, stated they maintain one large monitored student parking lot well set back from the main road with zero overflow issues. Similarly, Donald DiFiore, business manager at Blue Hills Regional Vocational Technical School, reported ample space and smooth operations utilizing a simple parking sticker system.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger