Why don’t students have assigned parking spots?

Every morning, the chaotic scene of the student parking lots is the same: frustrated faces, seemingly endless lines that stretch into fully-packed roads, and students racing to secure a spot. The problem is rooted in the lack of space provided by the school. Although the senior parking lot seems spacious at first glance, the reality many students confront is not ideal.

Turning into Daisy Bates street to enter the junior lot requires waiting in a line of parents trying to drop off their kids. Because there is no distinct lane for students and teachers to enter the parking lot, waiting time eventually adds up to over 10 minutes. Ultimately, students are subject to being tardy, especially with the metal detectors.

Once students enter the senior lot, another obstacle arises. Securing a spot is often difficult as there are more students and teachers assigned to that lot than there are actual parking spaces. The senior parking lot, unlike the junior lot, becomes easily cramped, forcing

students to park on 13th street. This obstacle frustrates students because their vehicles are not secure as there are no security cameras on that public street, like there are in the lots.

The current junior lot uses gravel, blurring the lines of the parking slots and flattening car tires. This issue, with a combination of the intense summer heat, creates harmful factors for students and teachers in the portables, who also park in the junior lot.

But how do we solve these long-running issues?

Immediate action cannot be taken in the lots because of the current construction of the science building. The most applicable solution is to assign parking. When buying a parking pass, students should be assigned a dedicated slot in their respective lots. That way students won’t have to rush to find parking or drive around looking for empty spaces. This means slots will need to be repainted to include numbers and for the junior lot, distinct lines. Assigning parking spaces would bring benefits like the senior tradition of painting your own parking space.

This solution will require an adult to ensure that students park in their assigned spaces. In the long term creating more spaces on campus requires the reconstruction of lots, which can be possible when the new building is finished next spring. Therefore assigning parking spaces is the ideal solution that can be implemented immediately.