Should the Parking Lot be Available to All Grade Levels?

Should the Parking Lot be Available to All Grade Levels?

Charlie Hex

By Charlie Hex

News Editor

In the past at Millikan, the leftover spaces from the parking pass lottery have been made available to juniors. This year however, only seniors have been permitted to participate in the lottery. 

The luxuries that come with parking close to the school can be just as beneficial to juniors as they can seniors. For example, those who have a job don’t need to worry about walking far, they can simply get to their car right as they leave campus. 

According to ASB director Mr. Robinson, the decision to restrict parking passes to seniors was based on the model of what other schools in the district were doing. They wanted to make parking near the school a “rite of passage” to seniors since this is their last year here at Millikan. 

Robinson says that the decision to exclude juniors completely was made over the summer after conferring with other administrators and activities directors from the other schools in the district. He reported that some schools did decide not to follow this model however, and instead they based the distribution of parking passes on GPA or first come first serve as opposed to a lottery. Only one school in the district has decided to open up parking passes to all grade levels, but Robinson did not know which school that was. 

ASB member and SEGA senior Irlina Valdez says that although she does not have a parking pass herself, she feels “okay having parking passes available only to seniors because it’s their last year.”

Robinson also says that he didn’t receive much negative feedback in response to this decision, stating that he only heard from a “few juniors who were hoping to get a parking pass and couldn’t.” 

Perhaps leaving the parking pass lottery to seniors is the better route to take considering that is their last year in high school, or maybe it would simply be more beneficial to a wider group of people if the parking pass lottery were open to everyone. However, for those juniors who are disappointed, next year they will have an even better chance of having front row access to their first class. 

Photo Source: Millikan parking pass application google form; photo depicts the header of the Millikan parking pass application google form, stating “Senior Parking Pass Application”.