As we enter into the fresh new school year, LOHS students have already been quite vocal regarding what we like and dislike about the new school policies. For seniors in particular, church parking spots are on top on the list of things we strongly dislike.

It’s troubling that students are still required to pay the same amount of money for a parking spot at the church compared to one on school campus, a total of $110 that is entirely unreasonable when student parking isn’t even permitted on Tuesdays due to church policy. Many of us are forced to carpool or resort to other parking locations once a week, with no other options of how to commute to school. It should also be taken into consideration that some students don’t live in the district, and aren’t able to take the school bus, so are left with no alternatives other than to hope a street parking spot is free, often half a mile from the school. 

In addition, the recurring unpleasant weather, and walking uphill to and from the church every day is not always the most enjoyable experience, especially in the rain and snow. Standing at the crosswalk signal every morning and afternoon on a daily basis often inhibits our ability to arrive to class on time.

Many seniors also have jobs directly after school and the hassle of walking all the way to the church lot consumes too much time, frequently forcing us to be late to 4 p.m. shifts.  It’s also extremely inconvenient that the exit out of the church lot is one way only, causing students who live in the opposite direction to waste time making a U-turn or taking a longer route.

The large number of seniors with church parking spots is especially pressing this year, as it has usually been routine for only juniors to park there in the past. After enduring the school system for four years and being the oldest and most experienced students at LOHS, we believe that all seniors should have a right to a proper parking spot on school grounds.

While we are aware that the lack of senior parking on campus is likely a result of new expansions and investments of the school, such as the outdoor classroom, we firmly believe that it is the administration’s duty to make more of an active effort to ensure that all seniors can have access to a parking spot on campus, and to examine potential solutions rather than doing using the church as a subpar overflow lot. Although students should obviously be grateful for having a parking spot at all, it often feels like we are being neglected by not being considered within the parking situation. If some parking areas are being removed by these recent developments, there should also be more investments allocating new areas for student parking on campus.