For years without any issue, students have been paying a fee and parking at the Rockshire lot.
In the beginning of the school year administration struggled to communicate to Rockshire, but as of the third week of school, they have finally succeeded. Although Rockshire plans to replace the parking lot with town houses, they have succumb to giving the spots to students again.
The people in charge of parking at Rockshire originally rejected a request for student parking in July and were not communicating since with the school. “I don’t know if the school was able to get in touch with the managing or leasing company seeing as they don’t seem to be returning our calls,” assistant principal Joseph Du Boyce said in the first two weeks of school. The highest priority the school administration had was finding spots for students and they have accomplished that.
Only 186 spots exist in the lower parking lot at school and all are reserved for seniors. Although there are 10 spaces reserved for those who play sports and receive the spot from their coach, there are also 75 spots at Rockshire.
At first, with no spots available at Rockshire, students were outraged. “I have to drive so many other seniors to school who didn’t get spots that there aren’t enough seatbelts,” senior Valerie Hubert said.
Parking is on a first-come first-serve system, which is fair, but with seniority playing a role, it has become harder for the juniors to find a place to park. Forty people are on the waitlist to get a spot and as of Sept. 2, according to Secretary Cynthia Cunningham, there were only five spots left. Administration worked hard to convince Rockshire to share their spots to students. Before that, drivers had found alternatives.
Some parked in the Fallsmead neighborhood but risk getting towed or ticketed. As of this year, students are no longer permitted to park on Greenplace Terrace. Last year, students were able to park along the street if they had a permit, however, at the end of the school year, they began warning students not to park there.
Other students got creative and parked at the Korean church not too far from the school. However, they shortly realized this was not a secure option after finding cones placed in the spots. In order to park in the lower lot it costs $37.50 per semester. If you are an athlete it costs $25 every sports season they plan on parking there.
Several seniors and juniors and outraged that they do not have spots but when confronting administration as to why it is taking so long, “We are waiting to make sure we had all the interns applications. They are priority,” Cunningham said.
The Lincoln Club shared a map of the area around school on their website. It showed where parking is allowed, where there are restrictions and where a permit is needed. However, the map was last updated in March and they were not responsible for any changes not shown.
We can all thank and be grateful for our administration because they convinced Rockshire, and now all who were pending a spot in the lower lot now have somewhere to go.
Juniors are still left out with no options as they will have to find somewhere else to park legally.

Ava Castelli

Staff Writer