Written by: Ariel Connell, staff writer
Since the return from winter break, the amount of people driving to school has dramatically increased. With that, comes the dilemma of trying to find parking in the mornings in the laughably small parking lot that sits on the Central side of the school. If one does not arrive before 8:10, the probability of them getting to class on time is close to none. Benjamin Solis (12) explains that he “once had to park so far down a neighborhood off Victoria, that [he] missed about ten minutes of class”.
Due to the extremely limited parking, the lot fills quickly, so one better hope that they never run late, or else goodbye half of first period! Why? Because there is absolutely nowhere to park. Mr. Hansen has sent out multiple letters as of late explaining that students can no longer park at the church across the street either, which was previously a backup plan for most students. It is even worse when it rains. The saying that “Californians can’t drive in the rain” is reinforced in the Poly parking lot a hundred times over. Traffic seems to be almost doubling- tripling even!
So if they’re late, where can they park?
The answer: Up Central in a neighborhood, or way down Victoria. It’s a far walk either way.
Some students call for a parking lot to be built in the empty lot across the street that lays diagonal from the school, but no clear action has been taken by the school to instate this idea.
On the contrary, other students claim that sophomores should not be allowed to park in the lot. Caterina Vadussi (12) argues they have to “earn their rights,” and they are “taking up so many spots now that they all turned 16 over break”. With a high number of sophomores getting their license around winter break, the parking lot fills even faster than it did previously, making parking an even harder task than it already is.