Students, administration, and security guards all have one thing in common: they are frustrated about the current parking situation at Mountain Vista. This year, there was a parking pass lottery for juniors, in which only a select amount of students were allowed to acquire parking passes at the start of the school year. For many juniors, this created planning conflicts because they were not able to park in the lot.
We got opinions from students who got passes and who didn’t get passes.
Juniors Lily Kusserow, Sona Kalatardi, Sophie Winscott, and Hannah Joella did not get a parking pass from the first lottery.
“One problem that I have is that I don’t live in Highlands Ranch, and there are no buses that stop by me,” Kalatardi said. “Both of my parents work so driving is my only option.”
The students agreed that it seemed like Mountain Vista didn’t take into consideration more factors when determining who got parking passes, like if students had to drive younger siblings, how far away they lived, and their driving record.
“Kids who have needs should have first priority,” Winscott said. “I have siblings that I need to take to school.”
The students recorded some observations about the system from their experiences and what they’ve seen. During registration, twins were able to both sign up for a pass, and they both got a pass, even if they only have one car to share between them.
Another complaint was that they could improve the the safety of the Vista parking lot by giving passes to drivers with good driving records, and students who have gotten in accidents, tickets, etc. should have to be at the lower end of the waiting list.
Junior Ian Husovsky took a neutral stance at the lottery, as he does not have a license so he can’t drive, but he’s able to walk to school.
“I thought it was pretty fair,” Husosky said. “It has never been a problem for me because last year my sister drove me, an I am still within walking distance of the school.”
Juniors Anna Von Hoene, Lauren Conway, Julia Buntin, Tristan Burt all were lucky enough to get a parking pass.
“It’s nice to have the freedom of being able to go off for lunches and being able to go home by myself, not on the bus,” Von Hoene said when asked about the advantages of having a parking space.
“I think they should consider how long people have had their licenses’,” Buntin said, “My birthday is in September so I would be upset if someone who had their license for not as long got one over me.”
Mountain Vista administration is working hard to add more parking in the back lot, but it won’t be a permanent fix because of the ever growing amount of students at this school. It’s hard, if not impossible to please every student in this school, but its not fair not to make a decision without considering the students.
