The age old issue of parking privileges has been brought up once again in 2016-17. This is no surprise considering that parking spots are limited and there are arguments over them nearly every year, often accompanied by harmless pranks on junior cars. Who gets to park where? Are juniors allowed to park in the senior lot?

Seniors have not been pleased with juniors who have parked in their designated lot. Nothing has happened this year, but tensions are clearly running high.

Many juniors have expressed their frustration with the lack of parking spots in the junior lot and the seniors’ response to them parking in the senior lot.

“Some people were saying that if they couldn’t find a parking spot in the junior lot and they aren’t allowed to park in the senior lot, they want a refund for their parking pass,”  junior George Gilligan said.

According to the GM student handbook, “parking privileges will be extended to seniors first, and will be extended to underclassmen if additional spaces are available.” It also states, under “Parking Lot Regulations,” that “students must park in the designated student lot only and within the lines.”

However, these regulations are vague and they don’t quite settle this dispute. The handbook never even mentions which lot is a “Senior Lot” or a “Junior Lot.” The designations of those lots is, according to Assistant Principal Mr. Kevin Clark, one of “tradition.”

“It’s not policy that students must park in a certain parking lot. It’s just sort of a tradition that we’ve had a lot designated for seniors and a lot designated for juniors. That’s something we respect, so we ask seniors to park in the upper lot and juniors to park in the lower lot,” said Mr. Clark.

Mr. Clark also addressed the fact that many teachers have also been parking in the junior lot since the trailer classrooms have been moved to the TLC. The teacher parking lots are often full as well, so these teachers also have nowhere to park.

“We can’t deny [juniors] an open parking spot if the junior lot is completely full. However, if there are juniors parked in the senior lot and we see that there are spots available in the junior lot, we may ask them to move,” Mr. Clark said.

Despite these potential roadblocks for junior parking spaces, some seniors believe that juniors should never park in the senior lot.

“While I think that the problem of overcrowding in the junior parking lot needs to be addressed, I do not agree with the juniors parking in [the senior] lot as a solution. We’ve waited for so long to finally have this privilege, and I don’t like how the juniors just bypass it,” said student body president, senior Jack Rasmussen.

Administrators have asked that students bring concerns to them, as opposed to arguing amongst one another.