Tomorrow as seniors leave the school for the start of their traditional “senior week” before graduation, more places than the hallways will be empty. Even though their spots in the lot will stand vacant, sophomore drivers still won’t be welcome.

Assistant principal Brian Gaub, who is in charge of building operations, said the district does not allow open parking in its high school lots.

“Although it’s true there will be more student parking spaces open once the seniors leave, the rules for parking won’t really change,” Gaub said. “Since we are required by board policy to maintain a parking permit system, we will still have to monitor the lots for valid permits.”

This decision is disappointing to sophomore Kate Lenz, who said she was looking forward to having a safer place to park other than her usual spot in sophomore alley.

“I got into a car accident on sophomore alley and multiple people wrote on my car in paint during school,” Lenz said. “I hate not being able to park in the lots and feel like there is room for others to park in them, not just the upperclassmen.”

Gaub said sophomores were allowed to buy parking permits in the Northwest lot back in January.

“We have lots of parking spaces, but many of them aren’t very close,” said Gaub, who noted that administrators will re-examine the parking policy in June. “Most days there are about 100 empty spots by the baseball field.”

Lenz said it’s frustrating to be an underclassmen who has to drive to school at eight in the morning to get a relativaly close spot whereas upperclassmen don’t have to stress about getting there an hour early.

“I absolutely hate sophmnore alley.  I’ve gotten 11 tickets.  I get to school around eight a.m. every morning to park in the north lot,” she said. “And when I parked on Sophomore Ally I had to get here earlier than that to get a good spot.  I feel like you shouldn’t be discriminated upon because you are a sophomore or freshman.”

Sophomore Maddi Albrecht also said she is frustrated when she hunts for a parking spot at school.

“I don’t enjoy parking on sophomore alley in anyway,” Albrecht said. “I feel like the lots except for faculty should be first come first serve to make things more fair between the grades.”

Lenz agrees seniority shouldn’t matter when it comes to parking.  She feels each student should have an equal opportunity to park on school grounds.

“If you have a car and are willing to pay for a parking pass then you should be able to park in the lot,” Lenz said. “They also shouldn’t assign [you] to the back of a parking lot because you are a certain grade. I feel like everyone should be able to park in the lot, not just juniors and seniors because they have been here longer.”
 By Rachel Forrest
Should sophomores be allowed to park in the lots when seniors leave?