Parking Tickets: A Popular Problem For Licensed High Schoolers

Photo%3A+Officer+Powers+holding+parking+tickets.

Photo By Sophie Goodnough

Officer Powers holds the parking tickets he issues out.

Since the start of the school year, Officer Powers estimates that he has given 150 tickets out to juniors and seniors that do not park in their assigned lot.

Parking lot assignments are issued by lottery for senior students but the designated areas can be varying distances from the school entrance, which causes some of the violations.

“I have gotten four parking tickets for parking in visitor, H, and senior [lots],” Susanna Schroeder said.

Officer Powers said, “I have tried everything. I just think they are lazy. They want to park in a different lot.”

Katelyn Sylvester working during her study.
Photo By Sophie Goodnough
In her study, Katelyn Sylvester thinks about the time she got a parking ticket during a study where she parked in her unassigned lot.

“I hate giving them out, but I have no choice, and it is unfortunate. They lose either their junior and senior privileges.”

Powers is trying to get the money that comes from the tickets to go to school rather than the town. “[Student] need to pay the tickets though, along with the school consequences.”

Schroeder said, “I paid one, but then my dad got a letter at work saying that there are two unpaid tickets. The tickets were sent to my dad at work because the car is registered under him.”

Senior Leah Turano has gotten three tickets, “but I get them because I cannot afford a spot. But if I don’t have a spot then I also can’t afford not to go to school. So that’s why I get a lot of them.”

Some students say that because their lot is farther away from the school entrance, they have to park closer to the school if they are running late.

“I got a parking ticket during a study I had and I parked in senior [lot], but my sticker is for water towers and I did it to save time, walking up to the school,” senior Katelyn Sylvester said.

“I mean one senior has 30 tickets already,” Officer Powers said. “It’s laziness. I don’t know how else to get them to park where they are supposed to.”