Five hundred and some odd students drive into the north and south lots of Eastview High school. Parking, a critical need for upperclassmen and even some underclassmen is pricey. Many students complain about the prices. This year prices went up thirty dollars per semester. Parking for a year at Eastview now costs two-hundred and forty dollars. My question has been why such a steep increase, especially at a time when parents seems to be struggling more than ever.
After interviewing five seniors who park in the lot I discovered some interesting thoughts on the subject. All of them agreed that the extra money went right into the schools pocket. After doing some math I found out that the school receives about forty thousand dollars more than they did the year before from parking passes. To get to the bottom of where this money goes, specifically, I interviewed some faculty members.
Chad, the security guard of the school, spends a portion of his day out in the lots. Each day after the last bell rings Chad is outside directing the post-school rush of adolescents. He shared that some of the funds go to re-pavement of all the parking lots each summer. With costs of raw material and any annual increase, this would be a significant portion of the $157,ooo Eastview gains. Of course, I am skeptical of how much the cost of raw material could rise in just one year.
Alexander Currie, a young, beloved English teacher gave me additional information. The school budget was reduced, yet again, last year. The budget was cut by 15%. The revenue students haul in was also used to pay for approximately one and a half more teachers. Currie was a good person to talk to about this because he is one of two un-tenured educators in the building. Some of that extra thirty B-lined it straight to his salary. Ask any student who has had him in class or as a mentor, and they will undoubtedly say it was money well spent.
Mikayla Pullin, senior, has parked in the lot for three years and she believes that the school profits one hundred percent of the money made from parking passes. She is not alone. Isaiah Neal, Brooke Hill, Bailee Bork, and Marit Plowman all agreed that the price was unfair, and that the school is basically being greedy. This story should be enlightening to a majority of the people parking.
So, to recap, I discovered where the money is going. Part is for re-paving, and another is to pay for one and a half teachers’ salaries. As it turns out, students do not hear this. They complain about the unfair prices, but maybe if the students know what they were funding they would be less bitter. Although, buying the pass is only the beginning of the parking frustration.
As they flood out of the building many students (mostly seniors) come to their cars and see a white sheet flapping around underneath their windshield wiper. Eastview gives out twenty five dollar tickets for parking on white-lines (designated for motorcycles), yellow-lines, handicapped spaces, failure to display pass, and for double parking. I am sure there is an extended list but from what was said, those are by far most common.
Personally I have received four, I wish there was a court I could go to fight each and every one of them. Ticketing in extremely inconsistent. For example, I park in the very last slot in the first row, granted there is a handicapped picture on the cement, but unlike all the other handicapped spots, there is no post. I had parked there so many times it almost became my reserved space. No one ever dared take it. Until one day, I came out to a white ticket flapping in the wind. To my amazement, they decided to enforce the worn-off cement drawing.
As I brought up the topic of tickets, the mood in the interviews immediately became a bit more hostile. Everyone has the story on their behalf of why they broke the rules. Not unlike someone I know. The consensus of students’ biggest peeve is the white lines. A total of one motorcycle is driven to school, so why such tough rules on parking over white lines? The discussions with Chad and Currie were unconvincing on this topic. Moral of the story is, “if you don’t want to pay, then how about you follow the rules!” Wise words from Chad.
The other main problem students seem to be bothered by would be ticket prices increasing by five dollars each year. An estimated fifty thousand is the revenue from tickets each year. Now it is difficult to track exactly where this money goes, and I trust it’s being used for a purpose that will in the end benefit the students, but the ticket price is a bit steep for students to pay.
It was surprising to find out that only one of the numerous students I talked to got their parking pass paid for completely by their parental unit. I thought I was the unlikely one, having to pay only half. This is most likely the reason behind upperclassmen getting hot and fussy when talking about parking. For once, it is the student’s money, not their parents.
With prices of parking being so high, and fines increasingly annually it would seem as if the school is discouraging us younglings from driving to school. For some it is not an option, such as me. I leave early, after fifth. Funny thing is, if I left one period earlier I would pay eighteen dollars rather than one hundred and twenty; that is fifteen percent of what I pay!
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