Since the return to 100 percent in-person learning, underclassmen have been parking in the upperclassmen parking lots at an outstanding rate.
As freshmen, the current seniors were not able to have a parking pass until the last few weeks of the school year. At the time, PV did not offer parking passes to freshmen and we were forced to park elsewhere. Through almost the entirety of freshman year, they had to park in one of the surrounding neighborhoods, and endure the long walk — longer than the one from E Lot —to school from there.
This year, underclassmen have the opportunity to purchase a parking pass. However, many of these underclassmen are not following the rules on where they get to park and are parking in the upperclassmen spots for a closer walk. Aden O’Donnell has parked in the upperclassmen lot before. “I didn’t want to have to walk all the way from E lot when there were 30 parking spots not being used by seniors or juniors,” sophomore O’Donnell said.
The underclassmen are taking upperclassmen’ spots because they do not want to walk as far, but when upperclassmen were freshman, they used to walk from the surrounding neighborhoods. In comparison, the walk seniors made is a much farther walk than the walk from E lot, or the baseball/softball lot.
O’Donnell also believes that changes to the arrangement of where certain classes park need to happen. “The sophomore lot should be extended farther into the junior lot” O’Donnell stated.
As a sophomore, current seniors could only park in E lot, which is much farther away from the school than the back of the tennis court lot. The underclassmen not only get to park closer than seniors did their freshman year, but they also are parking in spots reserved for the upperclassmen.
A lot of seniors are upset that underclassmen are parking in their spots. This forces some seniors to have to park in E lot. Cedric Ragins was one senior who had to park in E lot due underclassmen parking in upperclassmen lots. “ I was upset because I feel that as upperclassmen, it’s our right to park closer to the school,” Ragins said. He and many other seniors believe being able to park close to the school should be a privilege earned after having to park far away from the school during our underclassmen years.
Underclassmen this year are not having the true underclassmen experience by parking in upperclassmen spots. Underclassmen should be enforced to park where they are supposed to and obtain the experience of having a longer walk to school.
