More Parking At Southington High School — A 2020 Vision

SOUTHINGTON, CT — School officials have made one resolution for 2020 so far — to alleviate parking stress at Southington High School.

The parking lot expansion project at SHS is one of "a number of projects that need to be addressed now or in the near future," Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connellan said last week.

He called the project part of "the continued partnership with other facets of town leadership," and pointed to a goal of 90-plus new spaces in the school lot.

The additional spaces will relieve some of the pressure on neighborhoods that are in close proximity to the high school. Residents in those neighborhoods, he said, have been faced with a parking problem for several years.

The funds will come at least, in part, from a non-lapsing account that contains unexpended funds from the 2018-2019 fiscal year, Connellan said. The non-lapsing account was established pursuant to state law and allows a town "fiscal authority" to set funds aside for use by the Board of Education.

The funds can then be used to complete capital or major projects that otherwise would have to be funded in future operating or capital budgets, he said.

The funds in the non-lapsing account came from unanticipated savings in board accounts, Connellan added.

In November, the Board of Education approved a priorities list for the $586,464 left unspent from the previous fiscal year's budget. The high school parking lot expansion has a $207,000 price tag.