By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- A school board trustee wants more policing of people without permits parking in handicap spaces.

Trustee Kevin Peretta at Thursday's Board of Education meeting said he's upset with seeing so many handicap spaces at school events occupied by people who don't belong there.

"I personally witnessed people parking in handicap spots because the rows were getting full and if they would have gone 50 yards more there were spots," Peretta said. "What's our mechanism to deal with that? Are police empowered to deal with that or do we have to ask them?"

Board members and the superintendent weren't completely sure whether or not police or the school would have to enforce handicap parking.

"I think it's something we would have to police during special events," Superintendent Pat Brady said, but later added he would look into it.

"I'm failing to understand the difference than if a car parks in the handicap space at Price Chopper. We're public property," Trustee Loren Fountaine said. "If they can ticket them at Price Chopper they can ticket them here."

"If someone was on our property and being disorderly, that would fall under our code of conduct and we would bring in the police," Brady said during the discussion of whether or not police would be the ones to enforce parking on school property.

The Village of Massena has a local law governing parking in handicap spaces.

"Parking, standing or stopping is hereby prohibited in the handicapped parking spaces designated in § 280-29 and in those handicapped parking spaces as prescribed in § 1203 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, unless that vehicle bears a permit issued under § 1203-a or a registration issued under § 404-a of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law and such vehicle is being used for the transportation of a severely disabled or handicapped person," the code reads.