Over the past years, parking restrictions have been an issue for many students at Greater Latrobe Senior High. The number of passes decreases by the end of the year as more students are able to drive which leadins students to get upset when they are denied a pass. There are some instances of students without passes parking in the wrong spots and leaving students who bought passes to have to find a new spot to park.
This year, the issue has just been amplified due to construction. Construction is happening on the junior high that is projected to end by the end of the current school year. They’re installing a new roof on the junior high, as well as adding supporting paneling around the upper parts of the walls that are adjacent to the roof. “What this means is they have to store supplies somewhere on campus, in this case, they’re storing them over in the CSC extension lot, which, typically in years past, was a student parking lot,” said senior high principal Dr. Benning. The CSC lot used to have 45 available parking spots for students.
This is causing the availability of parking spaces to be restricted to just the tennis lot, main lot, and band lot. In turn, the spots have filled up more rapidly than in previous years, and as a result, more students will go without spots. Dr. Benning said, “Unfortunately, we are at our max now. I don’t know if that’s going to change between now and the end of the school year for students.”
Due to the capacity of the school’s lots, many students who have recently applied for parking passes by completing the Google form in their school email are getting added to a waitlist. Even though there is a waitlist, Dr. Benning has said he cannot guarantee that any spots will open up by the end of the school year.
The limited number of spots has led to some students getting their spots stolen in the mornings. Nolan Thomas, a junior, said, “Some kids were stealing my spot.” He claims this happened “four or five times.” He told the office, and eventually, the students stopped parking in his spot. To deal with this issue Dr. Benning said, “If there is another car clearly in your spot that you have paid for and you have a parking permit for,” he said, “I would encourage one or two other locations, the lower tennis lot by the athletic wing, or in the lot where the administrators and the athletic director used to park, and just to park there temporarily.”
As construction continues and parking spots remains limited, students and staff are working together to navigate the challenges of a crowded campus. Students who are waiting for or want to get a parking pass in the future are encouraged to keep alert for emails or opportunities for open spots as the year progresses. Spots may open if the construction finishes early or if spots are given up by students, however, there is no guarantee anything will change by the end of the year.
