Why Changes Are Desperately Needed in the School Parking Lot
January 24, 2018
This is an example of what the parking lot looks like after school.
We never thought that we would be writing an article complaining about the school parking lot, but here we are, complaining about the school parking lot.
Every single day, we arrive at school, along with many other students, to find cars “temporarily” parked in front of our spots before school, and even worse, blocking our ability to get out of our spots after school.
This is an extremely frustrating situation. As students, we often have to meet with teachers before school. Then, after school, we need to leave to go to sports, jobs, or other extracurricular activities. However, we are consistently not able to leave right away because a multitude of parents are blocking our cars in the rows of the student parking lot. In addition, some of these parents don’t move when students have signaled with their reverse lights that they need to leave.
This experience is widespread, and we are not the only students who feel frustrated about this:
- “This is a huge inconvenience to me. There hasn’t been a day this year that a parent hasn’t parked in front of my spot. This endlessly blocks me from parking or leaving. Parents drop off their kids right in front of my spot. Every day after school I try and leave school quickly, but I’m stopped by the rows of parents who park behind my car. Even when they see me walk to my car and turn it on they don’t even bother to move.” -Elsa Sierk, senior
- “A lot of parents usually park right behind my parking spot. I usually have to wait for them to leave because I can’t back up when they are there. It’s pretty annoying because I just want to leave but I can’t without hitting them.” -Carson LeMaire, senior
- “I can never get out of school on time unless I leave super early because people just sit behind my car.” -Grant Starr, senior
- “I get why parents come and park in the parking lot, but it’s really annoying because we are trying to back out and you just can’t because they are blocking the way. I know they are waiting for their kids but I just want to back out.” -Rue Johanes, senior
We have a proposal: La Salle should place cones directing parents away from parking in the main lot in the afternoon. More importantly, cones should also be placed at the end of each row so that parents cannot drive down the rows and park in front of students’ cars at the end of the school day while they are waiting for their child.
We have provided visuals to help explain our idea:
We, as well as all of the students we talked to, believe that this parking lot issue is a problem that urgently needs to be fixed. The school has the ability to resolve this problem easily using the solution we provide above. We ask that the school administration takes our proposal seriously and works to find a quick resolution to this problem.
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Are you annoyed by this parking lot headache? Or do you have a different idea for how to resolve this? Let us know in the comments below.
Jo • Jan 29, 2018 at 6:59 pm
Terrific report. Parking is always a challenge at every school. LaSalle needs to enact some incentives to reduce the number of cars arriving (driven to school)…more carpools, some type of premium/reward for students who arrive by bike or foot (via public transit). Further, students who do arrive by chauffeured cars should have their backpacks or bags in hand when arriving at school instead of slowing down dropoff when retrieving bags from the trunk of cars, or back of SUVs. One other idea, eliminate the northbound exit from the main lot on to Fuller to keep traffic flowing.
Vanette Fontenette • Jan 26, 2018 at 7:10 pm
I think this is a great idea but the reason parents are parking all over is to reduce the back up that occurs on Fuller Road. The only obstacle to this solution is that there still has to be a place for Parents to go once they turn off Fuller Road. Thanks for starting the conversation.
Anne • Jan 25, 2018 at 10:10 pm
It would be helpful to reduce the number of cars in total. I’d like to see LaSalle facilitate car pooling or ride sharing – some way to connect with other drivers.
Do any of the seniors quoted in this article want to earn gas money by bring a non driving student to/from?
Philicia Robinson • Jan 25, 2018 at 9:00 am
I’m glad someone has spoken up about this. Everyday my parking spot is blocked by someone’s parent and it’s the most annoying thing ever!
Ted Johnson • Jan 25, 2018 at 6:11 am
Awesome article!
Thank you for sharing and for proposing an excellent solution as well!
Maybe this is something that can be implemented soon.
Bests.
souria • Jan 24, 2018 at 10:09 pm
I like the idea of helping parents not park infront of students’ cars but I think a reconstruction of the whole parking lot is much needed.
Elsa Sierk • Jan 24, 2018 at 9:40 pm
Such a great article! I think the changes are necessary and would help benefit the students greatly!