September 19, 2022 by Natalie Rock
Back-to-school season means senior lot season for students at Saratoga Springs High School. You would think that the name “senior lot” was self-explanatory, but I guess it wasn’t clear enough. Well, allow me to explain, it’s for seniors. Still, some juniors have been a little confused–eager to drive to school and take advantage of their newfound independence, they are entering the lot in droves. Many juniors have been receiving notices for parking in the lot without passes but is the problem really the newly licensed class of 2024? Maybe the senior lot itself is the problem.
Last year, I received a parking ticket because I was in a spot on Hyde Street that was “illegal” until 8 am. This was, and still remains, a dilemma because school starts around 7:50. Not to mention the consequences you receive if you’re a minute late entering the building. I would’ve loved to have a pass for the senior lot, but that’s not an option until later in your junior year. The lot is objectively small for a school of 1,987 students, with the upperclassmen population, many of whom can drive, making up about half of that number.
Historically, the solution for the space issue is “The Junior Lottery.” Forty names are “picked out of a hat” and those eleventh-grade students receive the privilege of parking in the senior lot. If you don’t have your license by the first lottery, in October, or the possible second, in December, you miss your chance. You would think that the bus driver shortage would have SSHS in favor of students driving themselves, but the opposite was true last year.
After sharing my parking ticket story with some of the administration, I was told to take the bus. For some, this is a great option, but staying after school almost every day makes this impractical. Juniors and Seniors alike both want to drive to school. Being able to transport yourself allows you to avoid excessively long bus rides, control your afterschool activities, and manage your time according to your schedule.
Parking isn’t a new problem, the senior lot has been an issue for a long time. Back when my eldest sister was a senior in 2016, the lot was a hot topic. Complaints were heard around the school about the poor setup of the lot and the even worse execution of arrival and dismissal procedures. Even back then, the students had to rush out of 4th block to get in line to leave the lot, and they had to leave their homes 15 minutes earlier in the morning just to get a decent spot.
Not only is this lack of parking a problem for the students who want to be able to show up on time to learn every day, it’s a problem for the people who live on the side streets surrounding SSHS, which often are used as alternative parking. Dozens of cars line up on Joseph and Hyde so that students can drive themselves to school. Complaints have been made by the homeowners on several side streets, and can you blame them? They are awoken at 7:00 am to the voices of teenagers complaining about the school day ahead of them. SSHS can’t just rely on residents to accommodate our needs for extra parking.
Size isn’t even the lot’s primary issue, the fatal flaw of the senior lot is the setup. The one entrance and one exit work together to create impressively bad traffic, and that isn’t even accounting for the West Ave traffic in the morning. Students have to push their way into a never-ending line of cars if they want a chance of getting off campus by 2:45. If you don’t beat the busses, your hope is gone.
I am not at all experienced in the road installation process, so I cannot attest to the difficulties of making necessary physical changes to the lot, but just imagine what life would be like if there was another exit out of the senior lot. It would be a utopia. No one would have to waste 20 minutes of gas while their car was running, but moving nowhere. No one would have to almost get in car accidents t pushing their way into the line. No one would have to run out of their 4th block class to beat the busses. Imagine a world like that.
Many flaws work together to make the senior lot a nightmare. After evaluating the situation, my
conclusion is that the juniors are not the problem. Wanting to take advantage of your freedom and the license that you worked hard for is expected. Having a school with 1,987 students should be enough proof that providing a big parking lot is important, and the yearly complaints should be the cherry on top. Thus far, though, most complaints have been heard and forgotten. If the administration decided to listen to student concerns and make the proper changes, we could have a rear-ending-free Saratoga senior lot. Imagine how beautiful that would be.