Parking lot issue continues: Juniors, seniors clash

More stories from Nat Tilahun

The parking lot is filled with students parking without a permit. Seniors show frustration as the student parking lot is overflowed.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The parking lot is filled with students parking without a permit. Seniors show frustration as the student parking lot is overflowed.

For years, parking at Walter Johnson has been an issue. Seniors are given the opportunity to purchase parking passes for $37.50 each semester and every year there is an overflow of juniors along with a couple of sophomores who park in the lot without permission. This issue has risen to a new high this year with students being forced to park on sidewalks, entrances, and really anywhere you could possibly fit a vehicle.

This situation is especially frustrating for seniors, as they pay $75 a year for a permit for parking, in a lot where spots are often not available.

“The parking situation is getting out of hand,” senior Brendan Murray said.

Many seniors taking Montgomery College dual enrollment courses who come in after the first two periods some days not only have an added hassle..

“The parking makes it especially hard for me to get to class on time,” senior Jonathon Newman said.

The problem also makes for a long walk to school during winter with frigid temperatures that make for a treacherous start to the day. Students forced to park at the Davis Library parking lot or the nearby neighborhoods have to walk a long way to get to school, wondering if it’s even worth the drive to school.

“I can barely feel my fingers by the time I get to class,” senior Spencer Mahne said.

From the vantage point of the Juniors, they don’t have many options either. The davis lot is further away and with the race to get to class on time parking in the lot seems like a good idea.

“I think he parking lot should be open to anyone who can drive because we all need somewhere to park,” an anonymous junior said.  

Administration has taken action through ticketing any car without a permit with a fine of ten dollars. Although this seems to be to no dismay as the security team exclaims “the kids don’t care ,they think 10 dollars is a joke”.

Given the severity of this year’s parking dilemma, the school has also threatened to start towing students who continue to park in the lot without a permit. The security team stated that they are in talk with towing companies and are in the processing of finalizing everything. Security started “hopefully we can implement towing starting next week (the second week of March).”  

These actions seem to have brought a solution to the problem, as the parking lot has had multiple spaces open throughout the school day recently, but only time will tell if the current state will hold.

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