Nicole+DeCristoforo+Position+Essay

Nicole DeCristoforo Senior Seminar Mr. Walsh 12/10/08 Senior Parking The controversy over a fair senior parking plan at North Kingstown High School has been an issue since the new school and parking lot opened in 2001. The problem is that there are only 180 spots in the senior lot and there are many more seniors that drive to school. Obviously, an allotted number of seniors are forced to park in the lower junior lot and walk the extra distance to school, even in the worst weather conditions. It is important to have a fair senior parking plan at NKHS in which the issues of a lack of spots and unjust distribution are tackled.

Senior parking first came to be an issue when administrators such as Mr. Lali, Mrs. Barba, and Mrs. Anderson received complaints from angry students. This year, for example, the parking plan was run in which a handful of students with discipline problems were withdrawn from eligibility for a parking space, and were given two months to prove themselves worthy. The rest of the students were given a spot based on first come first serve. The seniors are the ones affected by the issue because there are students that would benefit from seniors spots for reasons such as sports, jobs, internships, and other after school commitments, but do not have them. Past attempts at a solution have been to divvy up the 180 spaces based on students’ priorities, however, it proved difficult for Mrs. Barba and Anderson to decide which activities were most important. A couple of other viewpoints have been examined concerning this issue. One alternative would be to draw students’ names out of a hat at random, and the first 180 students would receive senior spots. The problem with this plan is that seniors forced to park in the junior lot will complain and park in the senior lot anyways because administration rarely checks stickers. This just creates a negative domino effect because once one person parks in somebody else’s spot, the person whose spot was taken is then forced to do the same. Students will often block a car in if it is in his or her spot, leading to a larger controversy. The other alternative, based on priorities such as sports, jobs, internships, and after school activities as stated earlier, creates the problem of being too difficult for administrators to determine. After discussing the pros and cons of each point of view, I believe that the best solution is to give every senior who drives a parking sticker, but not an assigned spot number. The senior lot will be available at first come first serve to students everyday before school, and when the lot is full the rest of the students can park in the junior lot. This method provides advantages because first off, it will promote students to get to school earlier before the senior lot fills. A second reason is that every student will have a fair chance to receive a seniors spot per day. Finally, it will teach students discipline and relieve the pressure from Mrs. Barba and Anderson. Key findings that have influenced me most in selecting the course of action I proposed were how both students and administrators found the existing system unfair. After thinking about the issue, weighing the pros and cons of various solutions an courses of action related to the issue of senior parking, I think assigning seniors parking stickers without set spot numbers is the best decision.