Parking woes create headache for student drivers

Parking+woes+create+headache+for+student+drivers

Challenging. That’s how Principal Ramsay describes the parking lot at the high school. And he’s not alone. Dozens of student drivers complain about the parking lot, from buying a permit to finding a spot.

The student parking, located on the southern part of campus by the tennis courts, offers a limited number of 300 spots.

The school requires each student to purchase a $10 dollar permit in order to park on school property. Where does that money go? According to Ramsay, that money goes into the principal’s fund, in which can later be used to repaint lines, or other needs for the students.

But are the lines ever really repainted?

“You can barely see those lines. I’ve been asking them to be repainted for 2 years now.” said Officer Jones, the school resource officer.

Painting lines is not the only issue that is driving HHS insane! By the end of October, there will be 409 kids that are of driving age.

As of October 10th, 2017, 161 Permits have been sold. There have been 196 vehicles parked in the lot that same day.

“That’s only about 15 people without permits,” said Jones. “I allow some students to keep it in their wallet due to multiple vehicles.”

Students who park without a permit create a huge issue, especially because it is regarded as private property.

“We are not allowed to write tickets; however, we can tow the vehicle off the property,” said Jones.

Coach DiBiasi, adviser of the Safe Driving club, has several new ideas to solve the problems.

“I was thinking about numbered spots,” she explained. “This way students can come in and pick their spot, so if friends want to park together, they can.”

However, there are concerns with that approach, as Ramsay noted.

“If one person who failed to get a permit parks in your spot, then it creates a ripple effect of people parking in other people’s spots,” he said.  “At the old highschool we had numbered spots, but we had a security guard who monitored the parking lot every day. We don’t have a monitor at HHS now.”

Until the school finds a better way to manage the lot, the current system requires students to get a permit or get towed.