Next school year, parking regulations will be a bit different for most juniors and seniors. Many students know the struggle of finding a parking spot on campus, and the administration is doing their best to bring about a fair solution to the problem.
According to Assistant Principal Vicente Arcos, the limited spots will go to seniors first, leaving little to no spots available for juniors and other drivers.
“At the beginning of the year, I need to take care of all of my seniors. We’re going to go with all of the seniors first, and then I’ll make an announcement ‘seniors if you want a sticker, get it now, because I’m about to give up the spaces to my juniors,’ and then they’ll be on a first come, first serve basis,” Assistant Principal Vicente Arcos said.
While this solution resolves things for next year’s seniors, students in the lower grades feel otherwise.
“I don’t like it cause I’m going to be a junior next year and I have a car and I have to get here early in the morning,’’ Sophomore Nichole Diaz said.
Instead of the seniors-first policy, some students think that administration should keep the same parking pass policy that we have this year.
“I think if you have a license and if you have a car and all the papers for it, then you should be able to park on campus. If you’re 16 and have your license, you should be able to park on campus,“ Sophomore Marissa Rios said.
Other students feel relieved that the school’s administration is taking on this change for the better.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us as future seniors to get a first spot, because this year as juniors, I notice that a lot of seniors complain that they don’t have spots for themselves, so it’s going to be better for us, ” junior Johnathan Cephus said.
Students might see it as a simple decision that can be organized differently, but there is much more behind the administration’s choice.
“I have over 200 teacher staff members. There are only 400 parking slots on campus. That’s a total of 400 staff and students slots, so once I give out the 220-something staff members, that only leaves 180. Out of the 180, you have to take away the handicap parking, because by state law you can’t park there, so those are gone, and then I have to allow about 30 slots for the Excel Academy staff and their students, so that’s another 30. I’m down to 150 to 140 spots, so if there are 140 seniors who want parking, I’m done,” Arcos said.
Seniors might have the upper hand in this situation, but they still have to follow the same steps to get that special green sticker on their car. The same goes to any juniors that are possibly trying to get a parking spot on campus.
“You have to have a driver’s license that says you can drive by yourself. You have to have the application on file. I have to make sure you’re a student and you’re at the grade level required, and then you have to be on your parents insurance so you can legally drive their car. The car can be insured, but if your name’s not on it, then you can’t drive their car. You’re not passing all of the requirements,” Arcos said.