The Problem with Student Parking

The+Problem+with+Student+Parking

When people think of student transportation many think of a big yellow bus, but for high school students, many drive themselves to school which means that all those students need a place to park and at Geneva High School it is a different situation than most.

At most schools in the Kane County area there are large parking lots around the perimeter or in the front of the school, but at Geneva High School the parking lots are arranged differently than most. Since Geneva is built in a downtown subdivision and not in an open field there isn’t necessarily one main lot but instead several smaller lots assigned to different people that are in various locations relative to the school.

For most seniors at GHS, they have been parking here for a few years and have experience parking in Geneva High School lots. Senior varsity football player Dale Waggoner has had experience in 2 of the 4 school lots.

“I think the lots are the best locations they can be given the land around the school,” Waggoner said. “I think the lots could use a little bit more room for the rest of the people in the school. They are usually pretty full.”

Because of the high school’s landlocked location there are limited spots where the school can have parking lots. They also tend to be full every year and sometimes people are denied the option to get a guaranteed parking spot at this school.

“I think they can be a little hectic at the end of the day because people are bad drivers,” Dale  said.

Many people get their license at the end of their second year in high school which means that high school drivers are still figuring out the ways of the road. Some are already comfortable with driving, but many are still unsure of their driving abilities.

Since many lots are a decent distance away from the school there are multiple paths to get from the lots to the school. These paths have not been updated in some time so when bad weather comes quality of the walkway becomes unideal for the students.

“They are decent, but they aren’t maintained well in bad weather, they also get flooded a bunch,” Waggoner said. “The only real problem is that they get swamped with water, and you can’t really avoid walking through a puddle. The walk just becomes miserable after like 2 minutes.”

In extreme weather with lots of rain or snow the paths typically become unpleasant and hectic to walk on. In a thunderstorm or in rain showers the paths pool up with water and the areas next to the paths become flooded too which makes standing water unavoidable. In snowstorms there can be lots of deep snow to walk through or even layers of ice under the snow that may catch people by surprise.

Senior Cross Country and Track Student Athlete Jack Kuehl thinks that the current lottery system is a good idea.

“It gives everyone a chance at a good lot,” Kuehl said.

In the lottery system people are assigned lots based off when students hand in their completed parking application and by the class of the students. Seniors get priority then juniors then sophomores and because of this each lot is a different price.

“I think the prices aren’t too bad or the entire semester,” Jack said.

Most people at the high school think the lottery system is a fair option to distribute the lots.

Current Woods and Math Teacher Mr. Showalter takes all winter maintenance factors into consideration.

“It’s nice that there is a pathway,” Mr. Showalter said.  “I think probably maintaining the snow covering as probably challenging at certain times. When it decides to snow, how quickly it freezes over after they salt it like all of those things are all variables that have to get taking into consideration.”

With Geneva High School parking being different than most schools in the area, most students understand the issues or concerns that may come up but are not completely satisfied with the quality of the student amenities.