“It’s outrageous, how many open spots there are in the 500 and 200 lot,” states Junior Colin Van Es. For the past month and a half Juniors at Wayne Valley have been frustrated with the lack of parking for non seniors. Van Es is only one of the many Juniors who are angry about the current parking situation at Wayne Valley. Some Juniors have turned 17 and are now driving to school every day. They are parking on Nellis Road, by the Science Center far from the school. This causes multiple problems for young drivers, Van Es stated, “Now that the weather is starting to get cold, the walk from Nellis to the school is getting harder every day.” Van Es highlights the walk to the school being a hassle compared to the convenience of senior parking.
Senior drivers are assigned parking spaces in either the 200 lot or 500 lot. Senior Sanjana Jayanth is in the 500 lot. She gets to school at around 7 to 7:05 am to try to beat the traffic getting into Wayne Valley. Sanjana also likes to leave for lunch because Wayne Valley is too crowded. Sanjana feels getting in and out of Wayne Valley is very difficult but the 500 lot is a bit easier.
Another Senior, Izabella Munoz is in the 200 lot. Izabella is usually running late for school because of the crazy traffic getting into the 200 lot. Izabella feels very stressed as she is trying to leave for school, going to school, and going out for lunch. She does believe that the 200 lot is easier than the 500 lot to get out of at the end of the school day.
Both Seniors have two ideas that they believe will help make the Wayne Valley parking lots safer and easier to get to. Izabella Munoz imagines that a police officer navigating the drivers through the traffic would make the line go much faster. Sanjana Jayanth is confident in the idea that there should be a separate lane for student drivers.
Juniors do not even have parking spots. Junior, AJ Diagostini has been driving since early summer and was aware of the problem before school started. Diagostini also brought this problem to the attention of the Guidance Office and the Junior class. Diagostini expressed, “I have talked to multiple staff members and even offered to pay one of the seniors, who don’t drive to school, for their spot, and have been shot down by the school.” Diagostini details the difficulty of even bringing this issue to light. Another Junior at Wayne Valley, Jordan Ginart, is upset about his current parking condition. He asserts, “Every day I walk past the senior parking lots and I see all the open spots that aren’t being used, why can’t they give them out to any Juniors who have their license.” Ginart and the other students express their irritation at the lack of a solution for this salient problem.
This problem affects not only the students but also the teachers and staff. Juniors and seniors have been “fighting” for spots, leading to students unintentionally taking the teacher’s parking spots and parking illegally. Wayne Valley AP Biology teacher has reported that her spot was taken by a junior eager for a place to park. This problem is spreading like wildfire and the entire population of Wayne Valley is being affected by this.
The School Research Officer at Wayne Valley, Officer Caronia, is in charge of the parking at the school. Officer Caronia stated, “There are 300 seniors and there are only 150 spots and some students haven’t got their spots issued to them yet.” As of now, the Senior lots are empty which is why the Juniors who have been driving have been angry, but that is only because of the spots that still have to be issued to seniors who have not gotten their licenses, yet. Hopefully, this can be fixed and the parking can be cleaned up and more organized.
After hearing from the Wayne Valley students, Dr. Moreno explained what the school has established to help the parking lot situation. Dr. Moreno states that the 500 lot is fenced in, so the students in the 500 lot can only go out one way to Wayne Valley. Wayne Valley added a crosswalk where the students come out of 500 lots. This creates a safer environment for the student drivers as well as for the parents that have to take their kids to school.
Wayne Valley High School is a big school with many student drivers. While it is difficult to grant everyone a space and their wishes, it is important for all parties to try to keep the students safe while still being on time for school.
The parking lots are empty and can’t be filled, and the surrounding roads are packed. This complicated situation needs to find a solution because the students and staff are suffering from this. If the problem spreads, then more people will be parking in places where they aren’t supposed to. This could lead to students getting in trouble with the staff and getting tickets for parking illegally.
