New parking regulations, fees create confusion as students work to comply to avoid consequences
When students go to school, the last thing they want to think about is parking. Unposted communication, hours, fees, and limited space leads to many students pushing back or ignoring the rules all together.
Purchasing a parking permit is seen to many as a bump in the road (pun intended). The application process is not clearly displayed or expressed to students. There are a few slides at the very beginning of the year that are presented, and if you happen to be absent or a new student, you completely miss this information.
Unfortunately, many students don’t know that they have to have their vehicle with them the same day they want to buy a permit, which leaves them frustrated when they are given this surprise information.
There is also an issue with the miscommunication among staff and students, and this can cause people to be displeased and less likely to worry about a sticker on their dash.
In addition to the expectation issues, there are no set times given to students to stop in and get this taken care of. Students are often told “go when Mr. Dailey is available.” This could be at 8:30 in the morning or during their lunch period, but too often Mr. Dailey is unavailable because of other administrative responsibilities.
Posting the application process, the application hours, and assigning more than one staff member to issuing parking permits would solve this problem very easily.
Another way to help alleviate confusion would be to add this information to regular news letters and/or sending out emails to parents and students quarterly.
Besides the alluding information with the parking permit process, there is also more miscommunication with the parking lot.
Staff members stress to students that there are two different parking lots; one for teachers and one for students. But, the truth is, teachers can park anywhere, regardless of whether or not the side is designated for students or teachers.
While teachers get the privilege of being able to park anywhere they want-without the worry of a parking violation-students must abide by the rules presented to them, otherwise they will receive a ticket. Students are very well aware that they are new and unskilled to driving in comparison to teachers, but limiting the parking space to us when the day might begin and end with a class on the complete opposite side of the campus doesn’t make sense.
The teacher parking lot is very large and is less than half full on a daily basis.
If teachers and staff are worried about young drivers parking next to them, there could be color-coded parking spots or rows to separate them. This would allow better usage of the parking space built by NISD and less frustration for students battling for a spot in the crowded parking lot allocated to them.
With the previous mention of parking tickets and fees, students are being charged $20 without knowing the reason behind their ticket.
When students receive one of those bright orange papers, there are no boxes marked to tell the students precisely what they did wrong, they are left to guess for themselves.
Furthermore, the ticket does not inform the students where they must pay the $20 fee. The student must call the school for themselves to find out that information.
At the end of the day, the problem does not concern paying the fees. It concerns communication from administration to students.