The spring semester has recently begun, and after all of the worry from midterms, students have a new topic to stress about: parking.

Since there is a limited amount of parking spots at the school, seniors must enter a lottery to decide who will receive a parking pass. With this policy in place, many seniors were disappointed to have been denied parking at the school.

The parking system here at HHS has many flaws. For one, there are close to twenty empty spaces in the lot after homeroom begins, showing that there is enough parking for more students to receive a pass.

It is also extremely unfair for students who have extra curricular activities to be denied a parking pass because they have to stay after school or go in early for their clubs. Many parents work throughout the day and are unable to transport their children to and from school, and the buses do not allow for students to stay after or come in early. Also, since twins can only have one parking pass for the both of them, they will have trouble juggling their different schedules. There is no priority for students who are involved in extracurricular activities, which is one of the major flaws of this system. Arguably even more problematic, there is no priority for students who have an early dismissal or late arrival implemented in their schedule.

Senior Lukas Sulskis is one of the many students who are unhappy with the current parking system. “Seniors have been waiting since freshman year to receive a parking pass, yet some aren’t able to get one” Sulskis said. “The Board should have extended the parking lot years ago so that this problem wouldn’t exist for this long.”

In addition, students who do not park at the school usually park at the Park and Ride near Bagel Bistro. When they park there, students have to walk to school, which can be especially challenging in the winter since the temperature is extremely low in the early morning. Not to mention rain, ice, snow, wind, and other weather conditions that can make the walk difficult. It would be logical for the school to have bus transportation from the Park and Ride to the school every day, so that these students do not have to walk in the blistering cold just to arrive to school early for their clubs.

Juniors in the school experience these difficulties all year as they are not eligible for a parking pass and must always park at other locations in order to drive to school.

The situation gets even worse as just recently it was announced that students who didn’t receive a parking pass have to enter another lottery to receive a pass for the Park and Ride. So now, if the student is denied both passes, they will not be able to drive to school.

The school’s parking lot is way too small for the large amount of students who attend the school, so there is little we can do about the space. There is, however, a large strip of grass next to the practice football field where people park during the football games. This can be utilized, allowing for a large number of additional spaces. Bus transportation from the Park and Ride is a viable option to help the walkers out. Also, priority for students who have late arrivals or early dismissals, or are involved in extracurricular activities, would help, and it would also encourage students to get more involved in the school’s offerings.

Hillsborough Board of Education is hoping to build a brand new high school in the near future. Hopefully, this new school will be able to give all students who drive a parking spot.