In 2015-16, George Mason High School charged $200 for parking passes. That small, 3-by-3 inch sticker for the back of your car window brought in $25,495 for GMHS.
In 2016-17, that number is scheduled to go up. Students who want the privilege of driving to school will now pay $250 for a parking sticker. And the school will net approximately $6,225 more dollars next year.
“If they want students to excel in body as well as mind and character, they shouldn’t make it so ridiculously expensive,” junior Sydney Marple said.
That little sticker is worth is four prom tickets and 17 dates to the movies. You could eat up to 27 sandwiches from Mike’s Deli. And you would be more than half way from buying an iPhone.
Students at Mason complain each year about the high cost of the privilege to drive to school. The increase in fees has only elevated the complaining.
“That seems like a lot of money, they must be trying to cut down on the number of drivers,” sophomore Sam Updike said.
But the stickers serve a real purpose – and it isn’t just to bill students.
“We have this so nobody from outside of the school parks in campus,” school security guard, Ms. Yvette Minnifield said.
Minnifield, as well as other school security guards, give warning slips to those parked in the student lot without a pass. By the third warning, the student or person outside of Mason without a parking pass is towed.
Some students park at neighboring businesses to avoid paying the schools’ fee.
“I have never paid the fee, I just park at Giant because I don’t want to pay it,” senior James Schneider said.
However, according to Giant and the signs posted in its parking lot, the same consequences apply- anyone parking there who leaves the premise, risks towing.
The parking passes aren’t just a way to get a few extra bucks from students. According Mason’s Finance Secretary Ms. Edna Baldo, the money funds grounds maintenance around the district involving trees, lawns, and landscaping.
However the increased expense in parking passes is not to aid more school polishing, rather to reduce the transfer of money the School Board has requested from the City Council by $912,000.
“I feel like it’s unfair to make students compensate for the mistakes made in the budget, especially because our parking fees are already significantly higher than other schools in the area,” Marple said.
Other schools in the area, such as Mclean and Langley High school, charge the same current amount as Mason; meanwhile, for students at Yorktown and Bishop O’Connell, the cost ranges from $25-$50. In addition, students from Yorktown and Langley run the risk of not getting a parking spot, as their passes are distributed through a lottery system.Though the price for parking at some schools is equivalent to the monthly allowance of some teenagers, it is important to recognize the different scenarios occurring at each school.
In George Mason’s case however, the new price to park at school was made official and it is now up to next school year to see if it was all worth it.
