Leaving for school earlier than you would otherwise. Rushing both eating lunch and driving back so you can maintain or even steal a good spot. Both these things could be stopped by having reserved spots.
“It was a discussion a few years back prior to COVID. Once COVID hit, obviously we’re out for almost two years, so we have not revisited that conversation. There’s a couple of different reasons for that. As you know, last year…they tried to get the referendum passed so that we could start changing things up for the benefit of all the students in the community. And unfortunately that did not pass. And we’re now revisiting that again and until we have a definitive answer, that’s we probably will not assign specific spots,” explained Joe Lendino, Deputy Director of Security and Events.
Which spot each student gets assigned would be likely determined by a lottery similar to the one. The names of lots could also finally have real meaning.
“We have a handful of parking lots and two that are specific for students. What we call the senior lot, which is the main lot right out of door one. And the other one we call the junior lot, which is the lot right…down the ramp right next to the stadium. Senior lots and junior lots, that’s just the name that we use…There’s no set parking spots for juniors and set parking spots for seniors. If you have a parking permit, it’s first come, first serve,” said Lendino.
Some other steps would also need to be taken to implement reserved spots. Lendino explained that actually physically numbering the spots would be the first, which the already busy maintenance group would have to deal with. Secondly, rather than just checking to see if a student has a permit, the security guards would have to ensure that the number on the permit matches the spot they’re in, with the threat of being towed enforcing this.
Ultimately however, as Lendino explains, the chief priority is just making sure that students have a place to park,” As long as we don’t have people without a permit park…we’re fine. And I’m not worried about somebody getting a spot right up front so they can…just cross over and walk in or, the very last spot in the pool lot, or the junior lot. The fact is that they have a spot. So the fact that one student may have to walk a little further because they’re getting there a little bit later, I’m not very concerned about that. It’s not a big deal.”