Over the summer, administration made changes to the parking lot, allowing students to park freely and provide more space for community and staff members to park and use facilities.

In order to park in the school parking lot, a parking pass is needed. To obtain a parking pass, attended a  meeting at the high school along with completing a course in Schoology is required. After finishing the first two steps, a parking pass can be purchased through Smart School.

The Stillwater Area High School website states, “Students must attend an IN-PERSON meeting” in order to receive their parking pass.

The administration got rid of the tiered parking system because the staff wanted to give every student an equal opportunity to get a good spot. Removing tiered parking no longer gives better parking to students with more money. 

Junior Eli Aldridge described it as “you pay for what you get,” where students may not have the money to pay the price of a better lot depending on their situation.  The lot now has equal priced area for students to park.

The staff believes that the people who get to the school early deserve to have a good parking spot. Now, there are no restrictions in the school parking lot and students are able to park anywhere.

“It lets me park anywhere that I like that’s open instead of there being designated lots,” junior Ephram Lanz said.

The new student parking lot has become smaller, giving teachers more space to park, and limiting students to their designated parking areas. Vehicles that violate the rules could receive a 5-10 day revocation of parking permit, and/or a boot with a $20 fee for removal. 

Aldridge said it had to be reduced to make “more space for PAC people and staff” creating a more friendly environment that allows teachers and community members to park as well. 

Although students are now able to park anywhere in the school parking lot, they are still not allowed to park in the PAC parking lot. The PAC parking lot is specifically reserved for the Stillwater community who want to come to the PAC and use the facilities.

Junior Sammy Gunderson said the parking lot made “room for the PAC” allowing other citizens to be able to park and use the high school facilities during the day.

School parking lot changes have made impacts that have helped to create a safer, and more efficient parking lot environment for students.