Driving: one of the biggest milestones for the teenage years. It is one of the highlights of junior or senior year – getting to leave your house whenever you see fit, no one yelling at you to hurry up. But with construction causing a lack of parking spots, the issue of who gets a parking pass has caused a lot of turmoil, especially for juniors and for those who need to be able to drive to school. 

The Main Problem:

With so many students wanting to drive to school, the biggest issue was trying to figure out who the passes should go to while still trying to give everyone a fair shot at being able to park. The seniors got first claim of course and with the remaining spots, the juniors were selected for extenuating circumstances, and after that the lottery system was put in place. Juniors at random have been selected for parking passes, since this is the best way to make sure everyone is getting an equal chance. 

Fair Game: 

Once a student has been granted a parking pass, it is their parking pass to keep, unless they violate the guidelines set up for everyone’s safety. No one has had their parking pass taken yet but it is a very real possibility depending on the severity of the offense. 

“Policies are policies to keep people safe, to be as fair as possible, so I’d have a conversation,” assistant principal Eric Sweeney said.

Acceptances…?

With the construction causing the parking spots to be assigned, this can make it difficult for kids with sports like football, softball, and tennis to move their cars during 7th period. Yes, everyone wants to get to the field faster or be able to leave quicker, but allowing these students to do so makes everyone else wonder, “Well, what about me?” These rules are stated for a reason, and they should not be bent for one student but not the other. 

“Policies are there,” Sweeney said. “They’re clearly written. But I’m open to extreme circumstances. Injuries happen. You know, I want to listen to people, and I’ve tried to listen to people, to make sure that people have what they need, to be as equitable as possible. That being said, there’s a double side to that as well, where you make an exception for one person, and suddenly everybody in the world says, I need that, and I don’t want to start seeing situations where someone is pressing and being unkind to another student, student to student, to say, give me your pass.”

Leftover Spots?
After the distribution of the parking passes, it has come out that there are around 50-70 spots left. The reason for this was the fact that students who had applied for a parking pass did not have all of the necessary requirements or paperwork. Students still in need of a parking pass can talk to Mr. Sweeney about it, making sure that they have all the materials needed and provide them within a week of being notified of your pass.