When there is a parking lot full of fresh new drivers, accidents are waiting to happen. The parking lot was redone before the school year started, and for new drivers who have never had the experience of parking. For students who have general parking access, there is a frenzy to get front-row parking. 

That’s right, students can now park anywhere in the parking lot on the bigger side of the crosswalk. However, just because there are premium parking spots for seniors this year, it doe not mean that people are parking where they are supposed to.

Seniors this year struggled to purchase their premium parking passes the week before the first day of school. The website used to buy the passes crashed as soon as it hit midnight, and a handful of students were able to get their passes immediately. Other seniors had to send their name in through email to try to secure a spot. 

There was a lack of communication when the premium passes went on sale because seniors were under the impression that the first row would be reserved for them. That is not the case.

“My parking spot is two rows from the back,” Delaney Moore, class of 2023, said. “I spent $20 on a pass, just o further back than I was last year.”

The new premium spots for seniors this year include the spots on the smaller side of the crosswalk. Last year, Moore had a reserved parking spot all year long, as did every other student driver. This cleared all confusion when it came to the question of, “where do I park?”

“The first day of school, I saw three accidents because everyone is trying to get the closest to the school,” Ari Rawlins, senior, said. “Getting out of the parking lot is worse though, a lot worse than it was last year.”

There are numerous amounts of parking spots open every morning, but during the first couple weeks of school, students who had the general parking pass would park in a premium parking spot, forcing the student who paid for that spot to park somewhere else. 

Zachary Ervin, the assistant principal for the class of 2023, sent out an email sometime at the end of August, warning students with general spots that if they continue to park in premium spots, their cars would be towed and they could get fined.

“I think the parking lot last year was so much more efficient than what it is this year,” Moore said. “When I leave my car a few minutes after seven [A.M.], by the time I’m in the building the bell is about to ring. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the students who get caught in traffic.”

The premium passes were supposed to be a saving grace for the seniors, but it has only proved to have a negative impact on the seniors who have a spot all the way in the back.

“I want the old parking lot back,” Rawlins said. “Everyone had a place to park, and we didn’t have to worry about fighting for a spot in order to get in the building.”