A new, pressing issue at North Forsyth High School has been parking passes. These passes cost $135 at the beginning of the year, and $65 after winter break. These passes signify where the car is supposed to be parked. The lots containing the majority of violators are the purple, red and blue lots.
While investigating, it is known that the issue stems from violators parking in the incorrect lots. Many students who incorrectly park say they do this because it’s easier for them to access the school, and they feel that nobody is stopping them. One student says, “If they had two different attendance offices…there’s no need for me to park in the lot that I’m not supposed to park in. They are limiting the school to one chokepoint (entry) and we don’t want to be late.”
The main offenders are athletes who used to park on C-Curve but can’t because they are taken by the ongoing sports. In turn, athletes are now required to pay for parking elsewhere. Many would rather park closer to the school; one student says “So am I going to walk all the way to C-Curve or am I going to go to the front office? It’s easier.” It is also noticeable that Sophomores are too afraid to regularly violate these codes, so the main ones taking these spots are upperclassmen and athletes.
Many students are not afraid of any consequences and believe there are many spots available in the red lot. The students interviewed said that in order to take this discipline seriously, they should have cracked down on parking more in the first semester, and stayed consistent throughout the rest of the year.
Jared Steinberg says, “In a perfect world we would be out there every day monitoring, but there’s only so many of us.” Steinberg also says the punishment depends on when you are caught, and the problem began in the purple lot. Then, once it became monitored the issues moved to the red lot.
Within the past two weeks there have been announcements made by Bob Carnaroli (Principal) regarding these issues. The only people that handle vehicular discipline are the admin, and they have seemingly taken notice and begun issuing suspensions for all violators.
Our administration is definitely noticing and working on these vehicle issues, but next year they are going to have to crack down on it even harder.
