Why did we start using parking permits?

To give you a little background information first, we’re actually one of the only schools in our area that doesn’t have parking permits, so when we were reviewing our safety and security, one thing we thought would be helpful was to make sure that the individuals that park at our stadium and those that park in spots for actual passes were students, because we don’t want people on campus that don’t need to be on campus. We’re a really big campus, we’re a really big school, and we have a lot of wonderful opportunities, but to keep everyone safe, if they have a permit we can easily identify that it’s a student’s car.

Why did they originally have a cost?

We had a cost in the very beginning, and I don’t want to get into why we had a cost, just because it was part of a proposal so I can tell you what we talked about in terms of what we talked about. A cost would be, this would be when they did have a cost, they don’t now, so we would be using that money for safety and security—what are some things we can do to improve our Culture of Care on campus, what can we do to improve the safety of parking at the stadium, safety at the trail. So people think they’re a dollar because they’re made of paper, but actually in order to get them so that they can’t be copied, there’s actually a decent cost to them, but the district was very nice and said they would pay for them this year, so you guys got lucky. We’re the only district that I know of around here… who give them out for free. We looked at what all other schools charged to make sure that we didn’t charge any more than those schools, and we were right dab in the middle.

Why was the cost removed?

The district, which was really nice, they offered to pay for the initiative this year. So next year, what we’ll do is propose it as a student fee so that’ll go in front of the board.

How many parking permits are available?

It’s actually limited to the number of students that we have on campus who have a valid driver’s license. If you have a valid driver’s license, then you can park on campus and have a parking permit. You only get one. Before when there was a fee, you could pay for more than one but now that the district is paying for them, we’re just offering one and you can change it from car to car.

Is there a deadline to apply for a permit?

Yes, and no. If you were driving on campus right now, you have until Sept. 4 to get your permit, but after that you’ll get a parking violation, so they have consequences associated with those parking violations.

What happens if you get your license after the deadline?

Let’s say you get your license in December, your car in December, you have to go online first, fill out for a parking permit, get the permit, and then you can drive to school. You won’t have that grace period of being able to drive to school without a parking permit.

How long are parking permits valid for?

The whole school year. Next year, we would do it all again.

Can you lose the privilege of a parking permit?

Yes, you can. That also has to do with safety and security. We have a whole list of rules you have to follow if you’re going to drive on campus, and those can be found in the handbook. If you violated one of those rules or regulations, you could lose your privilege of being able to drive to school, but we have this wonderful thing called the school bus. It’s really nice in the wintertime when it’s so gross out, that you don’t have to sweep the car, you don’t have to worry about the icy roads, spare yourself that stuff. You can get picked up, get dropped off right at the door.

Is the process to get a parking permit any different for seniors?

No, it is not. One thing to know that a permit isn’t a pass. If you have a permit, make sure you park down at the bottom of the stadium, down the trail in the stadium parking lot. It doesn’t give you the option to park adjacent to the school.

What happens if you don’t have your parking permit in your car?

If you don’t have it by Sept. 4, you could possibly receive a parking violation. The first time that you have a parking violation, it could be because you don’t have a permit or you make up your own parking spot or you park adjacent to the school and you don’t have a pass to do that. The first option is either serving 2 Saturday detentions or you can pay a $50 parking fee, that’s the first consequences. The second consequence, we look at it as more of a failure to comply. So the first time, okay, you have this parking violation. But the second time, we’ve talked to you about it, so the student would receive an in-school suspension, and that would also kick them out of skip-a-final the second time.

How is the school checking to see if its your car?

Every parking permit has a number, and we have a database that registers when you put everything in. That database has your license plate, so we look to see that the number and the license plate match, and the description of the vehicle match. If they don’t, we will flag that. Also, if a car is missing a permit, we can actually run the plate and so we can find who that car is registered to. That’s part of the safety and security, if we have a license plate that doesn’t match a student on campus, we have the school police investigate why they’re here on campus when they shouldn’t be on campus.