Castro Valley High School’s award-winning student newspaper. We are born to seek the truth!

Opinion

Don’t tow! Students, administration should shift into neutral

Parking CartoonParking out of bounds has become a rising issue in the high school parking lots. In recent weeks, CVHS administration commenced sanctions, including stricter enforcement of parking policies on campus. Despite the reprimands, some students are still parking in staff and visitors spaces and the administration is considering towing students’ cars.

We at The Olympian believe that CVHS should take various measures before resorting to towing cars.

At start of this year, student parking permits were offered to seniors. Passes cost $50 each, valid all year. Due to restricted availability, limited student parking was offered in the general vicinity. Space was occupied on a “first come, first serve,” basis. Many students were forced to find an alternative parking solution on public streets a few blocks away as a result.

While limited spaces were provided for student vehicles, and consecutive cases of inconvenience emerged, questions about the parking lot have risen throughout the community.

Legal high school drivers face a constant schedule filled of coursework, extracurriculars, and socializing, and having to walk several minutes to their cars seems to be implausible. Undoubtedly at first sight, an available spot in the teacher’s lot appears to be an alluring option. So why not take it?

School administration has been calling out unidentified owners to remove their vehicles in faculty assigned spaces, with staff and employees reporting incidents of students disrupting the parking regulation. Some demanded the school to take immediate action, while others call for negotiations.

Although current rules place some restrictions, there are more that can be implemented to insure both students and staff can happily use the public parking space without receiving punishments or disrupting bystanders.

In the wake of the parking issue, students must stop parking in spaces under staff reservation. Likewise, the faculty should refrain as much as possible from using other parking spaces on campus. This practice effectively ties up two parking spaces. Additionally, any students with a license should be eligible to purchase a permit.

While distractions of the parking policy violation cause inconvenience, The Olympian highly encourages students to consider commuting alternatives such as walking, carpooling, or biking.