0
0
Over the loud speaker, Assistant Principal Mrs. Remensky detailed a significant change in the daily routine of seniors, juniors, and sophomores who drive to school. Starting Monday, January 3rd, all student parking will now be exclusively in the new parking lot across from the front entrance of the high school. No more Juniors parking up by Lenzer Field, no more Senior Parking Lot – no sophomores either.
Student reaction was mixed, from viewpoints about using this new resource to commentary about the change in status, tradition, or even the timing of the change.
“I think its a good addition”, said junior James Tilman, “there’s a lot of space for people to park.”
Juniors Lydija Amayo and Jack Blaser thought otherwise. “I think that it’s weird they’re doing it something mid year” stated Amayo, “and that seniors don’t have priority parking.”
“Seniors should still have their own parking spaces, ” agreed Jack, “instead of having them have to join in on the first come first serve nature of the new parking lot.”
A view of the current senior parking spaces on the last day of this designation, Wed, Dec 22nd, 2021. Seniors have been parking in the background outside of the middle school side of the building, with faculty parking in the foreground.
Starting after the winter break, students will not be allowed to park in these areas, stopping a Senior tradition that has run for at least a decade. For a number of students, this is not a change, but instead a policy that reflects what students do anyways.
“I do not think that it will change it much,” said junior Gabe Bennett, who already parks in the new large parking lot whenever he does drive to school.
Questions remain for the start of 2022 – how will students adjust routines to get the spots they desire while safely parking around all the sophomores, juniors, and seniors who drive to the high school daily? Will Seniors be able to get parking privilege back? For Beattie students who already park in the lot, will it be any change at all with the increase of students in wintertime who want the closest parking spaces to the school? Will safety be an issue with so many drivers in a new lot? Answers ahead when students return in January.
