Have you ever noticed students parking in other students’ paid parking spots? It’s a situation that has been causing quite a stir at SHS. With limited parking spaces and the convenience of having a designated spot, it’s understandable why student drivers opt to pay for their own parking. However, there seems to be a growing trend of students taking advantage of these assigned spots.

For some students, this makes their mornings a little more inconvenient than usual.

Senior Ruby James expressed her irritation with this situation. For her, this is getting increasingly more common.

“I’m not late to school often but when I am, my spot is always stolen and I have to park in overflow parking, which makes me even more late to class. It makes my day a little less manageable,” stated Ruby James, senior.

“Sometimes people will drive recklessly throughout the parking lot and I find it annoying when you have a spot for a year and people feel free to take it just because it’s open,” said junior Kaylee Vincent,

“Stolen” parking spaces are not the only issue it seems. With kids driving without caution and speeding in school zones, it makes it dangerous not only for peers getting to their cars, but also for parents and guardians picking up students.

It’s a problem that affects many students and can lead to unnecessary stress and inconvenience. Many different routes could be taken to avoid it from occurring so often.

“It would be helpful to increase surveillance in the parking area to deter students from taking someone else’s spot,” said senior Mikki Sullivan, sharing her thoughts on how to decrease the impact of this.

James shared her ideas about changes that can be made.

“I think that seniors should have first pick when choosing parking spots and then juniors,” said James.

Increasing communication and education about the importance of respecting assigned spots can help create a culture of accountability and courtesy among students. By considering different ways to deal with this issue, SHS can work towards creating a more efficient and fair parking system that benefits the entire student body.