As tensions grow higher in the battle to find parking spots at school, more students than ever have come to the school administration expressing their concerns. Many students, more specifically seniors, have come in to communicate their frustrations caused by no parking, tickets, and having to move into the junior lot, This debacle has caused many students to start school late and enter with a negative mindset. “Tardys should be excused if we have to drive around for an hour looking for spots,” an anonymous senior stated.
Not only are students finding it stressful to find a parking spot, it is also affecting their learning. They are spending their time searching for a parking spot that won’t result in them being ticketed, instead of inside the classroom. What was once Park City High School’s peaceful parking lot has now gotten students feeling pensive.
This new parking setup has also got some of our fellow seniors questioning administration’s approach on the number of student spots vs the number of teacher spots. Griffin Williams, a PCHS senior, said, “Every single day at the end of second period there are 30 teacher spots that are wide open and zero student spots, and every time I cannot find a spot and park in a teacher spot they mark up my car. This is causing a lot of unsafety while driving because every time I look to make a lane change to left side, I cannot see my blind spot or if I am going to hit a car.” If students proceed to park in teacher spots due to the fact that there is a plentiful amount of those spots, shouldn’t administrators create more student parking instead of ticketing students which has proven to be unsuccessful?
Also, if Park City High School’s emphasis on safety is really enforced, then shouldn’t they be concerned about how the parking tickets are affecting students’ abilities to drive rather than fining students for parking in a teacher’s spot and profiting off their want to get to class on time?
With administration combining the senior, junior, and sophomore lots, kids have grown furious at the situation. Why all of a sudden this year have we merged the lots? We have waited four years to be able to park in the senior lot. “Seniors deserve to park in the senior lot because we’ve worked hard for this, a whole 4 years of hard work and determination,” Lena Klein, a senior at Park City Highschool said. Deidre Duncan, a fellow senior, also expressed her frustration saying, “I think it’s messed up because we have waited four years to be able to park here and it gets ruined for us.”
By combining all the lots not only is it unfair to the seniors it is also unsafe. Now more than ever there are a ton of kids circling the senior lot in hopes of stealing a spot. This is dangerous because the senior lot is a lot smaller and more narrow which makes it tricky to maneuver and get around when there are three grades fighting for spots. Now, not only is it scary having people try and find a spot anxiously, but it is also frightening that we are fighting with new drivers who have less experience on the roads. This makes seniors not too fond of the thought that sophomores are now using the senior lot. Not only are sophomores new drivers and scary to be around, but they also deserve to have to walk to the high school from the church lot like every other class has done no matter how horrid the weather conditions may be.
With more strain being added daily to the Park City High parking, will administrators continue to hammer down tickets or will they consider the effects it has on students and help get back the once peaceful senior parking lot we had in the past?
