If keeping track of assignments, extracurricular activities, jobs, and all the other aspects of a LM student’s life weren’t stressful enough, many upperclassmen are forced to keep track of one more important thing: parking. Despite LM having over 1600 students this current school year, there are only around fifty spots available for students in the senior class. This forces all the other students who drive themselves to school to find other spaces around campus.
Due to this, often LM students must leave their cars in the dreaded 2-hour parking spots. They know all too well the consequence of not moving their car: a hefty parking ticket. So how do students avoid having to pay this unfair fee simply to receive an education? They will sprint in between classes or excuse themselves multiple times a day so they can find a new spot. However, this comes with consequences. Many students will receive tardiness because of the short five minute break between classes or miss out on critical pieces of information being taught in class. This task might only take a few short minutes, but over time the absences and tardies pile up, hurting students in the long run.
Students who have fallen victim to this parking system have tried sharing their personal problems with teachers and administrators, but they all say the same thing. They will just question students on why they need to drive to school in the first place when there is a bus system. But what these administrators fail to understand is the fact that the bus system, though helpful, does not accommodate the needs of all students. Including traffic that buses face during the afterschool rush, students could easily get a start on their homework if they were to drive home. Those who have after-school jobs will often not make it from school to their house then to their workplace in time if they use the bus. Additionally, there are students who have to pick up their siblings from their respective schools, and the bus schedule won’t allow them to get there in time. The administrators and teachers who claim that the bus system is fit for the students of LM fail to consider its flaws that restrict a student from their commitments.
If this current system goes on, students will continue to get in trouble, receive tardies on their transcript, and receive parking tickets for not moving. The best way to solve this problem is to create more spaces. There are many field areas on the LM campus and across the street that could be made into parking spaces for the student body. There is also room that is not being utilized to its full capacity in the bus loop. Our school is far too large to have such limited parking options for students and their specific needs. In addition to adding spots, LM needs to implement a new system that allows juniors to receive these parking passes to ensure that the students who will be driving can maintain their time commitments
As mundane as the problem of parking may seem, it impacts so many different, specific aspects of a students life that will cause them unnecessary stress. How are students supposed to thrive in a space as challenging as high school when the first thing they are faced with in the morning is the struggle of figuring out their transportation? Just because students have the responsibility of having a driver’s license does not mean they should have to deal with problems that aren’t their concern in the first place.