WAKE FOREST - A $62.8 million renovation project proposed for Wake Forest-Rolesville High School won't end the student parking wars anytime soon.

Despite frequent complaints about lack of on-campus parking for students, Wake County school officials want to cut $1 million from the renovation project by abandoning plans for a parking deck. School officials are hoping to work out a deal with the town to reduce the amount of parking they'll have to provide after the renovations.

"If we can avoid spending $1 million, we should try to do so," said school board member Lori Millberg, whose district includes Wake Forest and Rolesville.

The renovations are moving ahead after the school board voted this week to delay opening two elementary schools to reallocate the money toward the high school. Final approval is up to the Wake County Board of County Commissioners.

There are 500 parking spaces on campus, with 353 for students, according to Mike Burriss, assistant superintendent for facilities. The school gets another 80 spaces by leasing a gravel lot on Rock Spring Road from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

With 1,900 students, many kids aren't able to get a campus space. That means students try to park on the nearby streets. But this has led to complaints from residents about their driveways being blocked and garbage being dumped on their yards.

"Parking has always been an issue that's plagued that campus," Burriss said.

Over the years, residents have gotten the town to create two-hour parking limits around the school. Andre Smith, the school's principal, has lobbied the town to ease the restrictions.

"They just need to get more parking spaces," said Tia Kirby, 18, a senior who has an on-campus parking space.

Victoria Tanner, 18, also has a campus parking spot. But the senior said many classmates have to rely on the kindness of teachers to allow them to leave campus and move their cars to avoid getting parking tickets.

The parking status quo was shaken up by the school's proposed renovations, which make it subject to more recent and stringent town parking requirements.

Under town rules, the school will either have to have enough spaces based on the number of students, classrooms and offices or on the largest assembly room, whichever is larger. The largest assembly space is the football stadium.

The 7,000-seat stadium is much larger than what's standard for a high school. The high school bought it from the then-Wake Forest College after it relocated to Winston-Salem.

Under town rules, the high school could be required to have one parking space for every four seats, or more than 1,600 spaces.

School officials want a variance from the town to use the lower standard based on the number of students, classrooms and offices. Burriss said that would create a requirement of 696 spaces.

Burriss said they could meet that requirement if they create a parking deck over the existing lot on Rock Spring Road, which is separate from the lot leased from the seminary. But they'd rather save money by not building the deck.

Millberg said she's rather spend the $1 million on academic programs than on student parking.

Without the deck, Burriss said, they can create 72 new parking spaces on campus as part of the renovations. If they can keep the lease with the seminary, it would give the school around 650 spots.

But school officials can't be sure how long they'll have the lot because the seminary is also trying to make sure it has enough parking for its students. Wake is trying to negotiate a two-year lease extension for the lot.

The renovations would allow the high school to increase enrollment to 2,200 students. By comparison, the model for a new high school with 2,200 students calls for 797 parking spaces.

School officials argue that some schools have even less space. Broughton High School only has spots for 65 students this year, not including a first-come, first-served gravel lot with 70 spaces.

For Charles Spacek, who lives near the school, a parking deck is a no-brainer. He successfully lobbied the town last year to place a two-hour parking limit on his street on Cedar Avenue.

"If they're going to have 2,200 students, they need to have that parking deck," he said.