New Parking Pass Policy: Compromise or Controversy

New+Parking+Pass+Policy%3A+Compromise+or+Controversy

Daniel Baker, Co-Editor-In-Chief

As you may have heard, students have been less than pleased with the current situation regarding passes for parking in the student lot.  Traditionally, students would pay a fee (recently $10) for access to the lot for the entire year.  However due to the current shortage of spaces due to one of the teachers’ lots not being completed, teachers must now now relocate to the student lot.  Unfortunately, this has led to the parking passes only being sold at a limited number of 100.  Unsurprisingly, all of them were sold within the day.

This, of course, has led to the discontent of upperclassmen who were unable to obtain a pass by the day’s end.  Many complained that underclassmen were able to get a pass despite not yet possessing a license.  Another fact that some have taken issue with is the legitimacy of the parent signatures required to obtain the pass.  I was fortunate enough to have my mother arrive at the school to sign off on the form, but others were less fortunate to not have their parent or guardian available to sign it.  This led to many having to forge signatures, just to be able to obtain a pass in time.

I personally feel that there could have been a much easier way to avoid the large controversy that followed.  For starters, the office could have required applicants to show their licenses when purchasing and to have only accepted completed forms the day after they were distributed.  The latter point in particular is especially important as the legitimacy of the parent/guardian signatures wouldn’t have been called into question.  I was surprised that I was able to purchase a pass on the first day without any questions on the legitimacy of my Mom’s signature (which was legitimate).

Now, the school has tried to create a compromise” in order to settle the issue.  The reason I have the word “compromise” in quotation marks is because the definition of a compromise is a decision that benefits all sides of an argument.  This has pleased neither side.  In an effort to accommodate everyone who needs a parking pass, the school will only be selling passes on a term by term basis, with the people who turned in forms later being placed on a waiting list for next term’s passes.  As a result, the passes that were recently sold will only be valid for this term.  The new passes will be different colors in order to distinguish them from passes purchased for previous terms.  As of right now, passes are still $10.

Like any student, I am incredibly annoyed with this new policy, especially since neither students nor parents/guardians had a say in the matter.  It’s especially annoying since I, and ninety-nine other students, paid hard earned money with the impression that we would be able to park in the student lot for all four terms, just like in previous years.  Now I personally feel like I was ripped off as I will no longer be able to use the full value of my purchase.

This new policy also makes it difficult for students who have other activities or appointments immediately after school.  Students who go directly to their jobs after school can now no longer work in their usual shifts due to them no longer having a form of transportation that’ll take them right there.  This will also be difficult for student athletes.  The announcement that unveiled this new policy used the example of student athletes and how they would be able to use this new policy to purchase a pass for the term that they participate in school athletics.  However, most student athletes I know participate in athletics all year long, hardly making the policy useful for them.

Overall, this whole parking situation doesn’t really feel as if it was well thought out prior to the opening of the new school.  This new policy seems as if it was a quick way to resolve the current situation but not the long-term problems.  Who knows what the parking situation will be like in the future, but at least one thing is certain, this year’s Case Rally will have a new running joke.